A recent report by Towers Watson, a global advisory services company, shows that Chinese enterprises remain cautious about pay rise in 2013, and the average increase is expected to be 9.3 percent, slightly lower than 9.6 percent in 2012. Such an increase is not disheartening. But more importance should be paid to narrowing the income gap between companies' senior managers and ordinary workers.

Today, the income of China's highest 10 percent earners is 23 times that of the lowest 10 percent, compared with 7.3 times in 1988. According to a report published by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in October, the incomes of management personnel have increased much faster than that of ordinary workers over the past five years, with the yearly salary of senior management personnel of listed companies rising from 291,000 yuan ($46,648.6) in 2005 to 668,000 yuan in 2010, an average increase of 18.1 percent.

Moreover, the government should consider raising the personal income tax threshold further from the present 3,500 yuan a month, and allocate more funds for projects related to people's livelihood such as education, healthcare, subsidized housing and social security.

In 2011, China's fiscal revenue reached 10.37 trillion yuan, an increase of 28.4 percent from the previous year, which was much higher than the increase in people's net income. According to the NBS, China's per capita disposable income was 21,810 yuan ($3,460) for urban residents and 6,977 yuan for rural residents in 2011, an increase of 9.2 percent and 8.1 percent year-on-year since 2002 after deduction of price factors. And in the first three quarters of this year, per capita disposable income grew by 9.8 percent for urban residents and 12.3 percent for rural residents.

This is abnormal because of the national economic slowdown and increased difficulties of domestic enterprises to make profit.

Since personal income tax contributes only about 6 percent of the total tax revenue each year, the government won't suffer much loss if it raises the income tax threshold further. Instead, more wage earners in the high-cost cities will benefit from such an increase.

Ordinary people hope they can enjoy higher income next year, and expect the dream will come true.

The author is a writer with China Daily. E-mail: wuyixue@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 12/19/2012 page9)