Both the total amount and the average level of Chinese workers' salaries had seen double-digit annual increases for four years in a row, growing faster than the gross domestic product (GDP) and per capita GDP respectively, revealed yesterday's salary reform forum held by the China Association for Labor Studies.

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Statistics show that the total amount of Chinese workers' salaries climbed to 2.34 trillion yuan (US$308.1 billion) last year from 1.32 trillion yuan in 2002. With price factors taken into account, the year-on-year growth was 13.5 percent, 3.2 percentage points higher than the 10.3 percent GDP growth.

The growth rate of workers' salaries during the period from 2002 to 2006 is 1.9 times that from 1998 to 2002, according the statistics.

The average annual salary of employed workers in China reached 21,001 yuan (US$2,761) last year from 12,422 yuan in 2002, a 12 percent year-on-year increase, 2.8 percentage points higher than the growth rate of per capita GDP.

The past four years have witnessed the fastest growth of Chinese workers' salaries since the country began to reform and open up in 1978.

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