Companies warned of increasing labor costs

BEIJING - Foreign and domestic enterprises should brace themselves for hefty wage rises in the coming years after labor discontent at Foxconn and Honda units in the Pearl River Delta area, experts have said.

"They (such disputes) send a clear signal of tighter labor supply," Cai Fang, director of the Institute of Population and Labor Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told China Daily.

Wages for 150 million migrant workers increased 19 percent in 2008 and 16 percent in 2009, according to Cai, who said labor costs will continue to rise.