Public servants deserve pay rise

The wildly circulated news on the Internet that civil servants salaries are being raised was "confirmed" with the publication of an article in Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po on Sunday and a positive response from a senior government official a day later.

Citing "authoritative sources", the article in Wen Wei Po, which enjoys a high degree of credibility on the Chinese mainland, gives details of the pay rise of government employees from the bottom to the State level. It quotes a source as saying that pay hikes could now become yearly or two-yearly affair.

At a press conference on Monday, Hu Xiaoyi, vice-minister of human resources and social security, confirmed the increase in public servants' salaries, saying, "the (government) document has been issued to various departments".