Shanghai residents' salaries rose by 7.7 percent on average in 2006, placing the city as the Chinese leader in terms of salary growth, with Guangzhou and Beijing trailing close behind, according to a recent survey. Guangzhou came second with an average salary increase of 7.6 percent, while Beijing ranked third with an average raise of 7.2 percent.

Mercer Human Resource Consulting, one of the world's leading consulting companies, recently released their survey on urban residents' salaries in 2006.

The survey further predicted that the growth of workers salaries is expected to reach 7.7 percent this year.

In Shanghai, auto industry workers' salaries rose by an average of 8.3 percent, with high-tech industry workers' salaries following suit with a 7.3 percent rise.

Across the nation, the highest salary rises were recorded in the petrochemical and IT industries, where earnings rose by an average of 8.3 percent.

The survey covered 1800 well-known enterprises across thirteen cities, including companies operating in the IT, high-tech, pharmaceutics, manufacturing, retail, auto and financial sectors.

(CRI January 15, 2007)