BEIJING, May 28-- China is expected to achieve its average annual minimum wage growth target of 13 percent for the five-year period ending in 2015, experts said on Thursday.

Nineteen regions in China increased minimum wage at an average rate of 14.1 percent in 2014, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said on Thursday.

The growth pace is faster than the planned annual average growth rate, but slower than the previous three years, said the ministry in a statement posted on its official website.

In China, where city and provincial governments set minimum wage standards, 27 regions raised the minimum wage by an average rate of 17 percent in 2013, while minimum wage hikes in 25 regions surpassed 20 percent on average in 2011 and 2012.

Last year, Shanghai registered both the highest statutory minimum monthly wage of 1,820 yuan (about 297 U.S. dollars) and the highest minimum hourly rate of 17 yuan, the statement said.