Give workers their due

The minimum wage in the country will be raised by at least 13 percent a year during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), according to a State Council special employment promotion plan. The plan stipulates that the minimum wage should be increased to at least 40 percent of an average citizen's income.

Domestic demand cannot be boosted without setting up a rational wage-increment mechanism and a supporting institutional framework. And since the State Council's plan envisages both, it should also be seen as part of the efforts to transform the existing economic development model.

Only when people have enough disposable income will their consumption level increase. The plan rightly lays emphasis on increasing workers' wages, but it is impossible to maintain demand and consumption levels without fair distribution of national wealth.