With worries about the apparently growing gap between rich and poor high on the list of concerns for the Chinese government many provinces and cities have recently raised standard minimum wages. And the capital, Beijing, has joined that list.
The authorities have raised the minimum that worker's can be paid from 800 yuan per month to this year's 880 – that's up from $117 to about $128 - a rise of about $11 or ten percent. But there have been complaints that the new amount is still too low, given the higher costs of living in the capital city.
So how do people in Beijing feel about the new minimum - and is such a standard even necessary? Well we went out on the streets of the capital an asked just that. Here's what they had to say in today's Straight from the Street…