By May 26, 2016, seven provinces or municipalities, including Shandong, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Jiangsu, have already increased their minimum wage standards for 2016, cnweekly.cn reported. In 2015, more than 28 provinces have boosted their salary standards, far exceeding standards seen in 2014.

Shanghai, with the minimum monthly salary of 2,190 yuan ($332.9), currently ranks top in the country. Tianjin and Guangdong, which rank second and third place respectively, are 240 yuan and 295 yuan behind Shanghai. Qinghai province offers the lowest minimum wage, 1,270 yuan per month.

The high salary standards can be attributed to Shanghai’s economic aggregate. With a total GDP volume of almost 2.49 trillion yuan in 2015, which is 0.2 trillion more than that of Beijing, Shanghai offers 470 more yuan in wages than the capital city; as for the Chongqing municipality, whose GDP aggregate was 1.57 trillion yuan in 2015, the minimum wage for local residents is 690 yuan less than what Shanghai people enjoy per month in 2016.

However, compared with Tianjin municipality, Shanghai’s minimum monthly salary is only 240 yuan higher, which is not much considering Tianjin’s GDP aggregate is 0.84 trillion yuan less than Shanghai.

What’s worth noticing is that there is a 920 yuan gap in minimum wage between Shanghai and that found in the northwestern Qinghai province, whose total GDP volume was 0.24 trillion yuan in 2015, next to last nationwide.

When adjusting minimum wage standards, local governments should take not only economic growth, as well as price hikes, employment and many other factors into account, said Su Hainan, deputy head of the China Association for Labor Studies.

“The local government should avoid competing with neighboring regions, yet guarantee sufficient living standards for low-income laborers while refraining from imposing too much pressure on enterprises,” Su added.

Most regions adjust their salary standards once a year, while some only once biannually. Tianjin, Jiangsu, and Shanghai for instance, basically adjust their wage standards annually, while Chongqing and Qinghai have maintained a biannual rate of adjustment.

On the other hand, it has been three years since northeast Liaoning province last increased its minimum wage standard, the longest interval without change seen in all provinces.

Statistics from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security show that the average annual growth rate for minimum wage in China has been 13.1 percent in the past five years. According to cnweekly.cn, so far only 13 provinces have reached that level, accounting for 1/3 of all provinces. In 2016, only Liaoning and Chongqing surpassed the average line with 17.7 percent and 20 percent respective growth rates.

“The drop in wage increase is related to the underperformance of enterprises. Regions should adjust the rate of increase in accordance with their own conditions,” Su told cnweekly.cn.

Given current downward pressure on the Chinese economy, enterprises also face challenges in profit growth, therefore the government should strike a balance amongst several factors, such as price hikes and labor cost, Su advised.