Beijing city is to raise its minimum wage by 21 per cent, the second such rise in six months, amid rising inflationary pressure and growing concern over China’s widening wealth gap.

　　北京市将把该市最低工资标准上调21%，这是该市6个月内第二次上调最低工资。目前，中国的通胀压力正不断加大，日趋拉大的贫富差距也引起越来越多的关注。

　　The increase, which comes into effect on New Year’s day, raises the statutory minimum monthly wage in the Chinese capital to Rmb1,160 ($175) and the hourly rate to Rmb6.7. It follows a rise of 20 per cent in June.

　　此次上调将于明年元旦生效。北京市法定最低月工资将上调至1160元人民币（合175美元），最低小时工资将上调至6.7元人民币。此前，北京市曾在今年6月将最低工资标准调高了20%。

　　Every province and municipality in China has announced a rise in its minimum wage this year, with increases ranging from 12 per cent to Beijing’s 21 per cent.

　　今年，中国各省市均已宣布上调最低工资标准，上调幅度从12%至21%（即北京市此次的上调幅度）不等。

　　The official measure of annual consumer price inflation in China hit 5.1 per cent in November, up from 4.4 per cent in October, with food prices jumping 11.7 per cent in November from a year earlier.

　　11月份，官方给出的居民消费价格(CPI)同比增幅从10月份的4.4%升至5.1%，食品价格则同比飙升11.7%。

　　The government is worried about the disproportionate burden of rising food costs on low-income households, which spend a larger share of their income on basic necessities. It also fears that persistent price rises could stoke social unrest, as they have in the past.

　　政府担心，不断上涨的食品价格会让低收入家庭背上过于沉重的负担，因为这类家庭基本生活必需品开销占其收入的比例更大。政府还担心，物价持续上涨可能引发社会动荡，就像过去曾发生过的那样。

　　“While China’s living standards have dramatically risen over the past 30 years, the gap between rich and poor has sharply widened,” Yu Yongding, an influential former adviser to China’s central bank, wrote in an editorial last week. “With the contrast between the opulent lifestyles of the rich and the slow improvement of basic living conditions for the poor fomenting social tension, a serious backlash is brewing.”

　　中国央行一位举足轻重的前顾问余永定上周在一篇社论文章中写道：“虽然在过去30年中，人民的生活水平大幅提高，但逐步拉大的贫富差距也是不争的现实。富人生活优渥，穷人水生火热，两相对比，致使社会矛盾不断加剧，这必将招致民众的强烈反抗。”

　　Nationwide increases in minimum wages are part of the government’s plan to reduce income disparity and the Chinese economy’s heavy reliance on investment and promote greater consumption by middle and low-income households.

　　在全国范围内上调最低工资，是中国政府缩小收入差距、减轻经济对投资的严重依赖、并提振中低收入家庭消费之计划的一部分。

　　But with many businesses already being squeezed by rising input costs, wage increases come at a difficult time and are likely to lead to higher overall inflation.

　　不过，考虑到许多企业正承受着投入成本不断上升的压力，在这样一个困难时期上调工资水平，很可能会推高整体通胀。

　　“In just the last three months we’ve already had to raise entry-level starting wages 60 per cent just to get people to come to a job interview,” said Jade Gray, chief executive of Gung Ho Pizza, a Beijing gourmet delivery service.

　　北京美食外卖服务公司叫板比萨(Gung Ho Pizza)的首席执行官杰德•格雷(Jade Gray)表示：“仅在过去三个月里，我们已经不得不把初级员工的起薪提高了60%，而这只是为了吸引求职者来面试。”

　　With its latest wage increase Beijing has the highest minimum wage in the country, just ahead of Shanghai on Rmb1,120 per month, but other cities and provinces, including the manufacturing hub of Guangdong, are eyeing further increases in the new year.

　　北京市此次上调最低工资之后，其最低工资水平已位居全国之首，名列第二的是上海市，月最低工资为1120元人民币。不过，包括制造业中心广东省在内的其它省市，正计划在新的一年里进一步上调最低工资。

　　The government estimates Beijing’s minimum wage rise will benefit nearly 3m people.

　　政府估计，北京此次上调最低工资将惠及近300万民众。

　　In Hong Kong, legislators in November set the city’s first minimum wage at HK$28 an hour. The new wage, which takes effect in May 2011, followed months of public consultation and debate amid growing concern in the city about widening income disparities.

　　在香港，立法会今年11月出台了该市首个最低工资标准，定为每小时28港元。这项最低工资标准将于2011年5月生效。此前，立法会曾花费数月时间就此征询公众意见并展开辩论。香港日趋拉大的收入差距已引起该市民众越来越多的关注。