Salaries in Guangdong will increase by more than fourteen percent a year starting in 2008. By 2012, salaries will be quadruple those in 2000, according to Guangzhou Daily.

Local political advisor Lv Ping offered suggestions for increasing the salaries on the grounds that income growth and the economic development rate have been incommensurate for years. This proposal is expected to draw the attention of the policy-making department.

Officials in Guangdong labor and social security bureau said in reply to the proposal that three big projects will be launched in Guangdong this year, including an unspecified "double-salary project."

By improving the minimum salary system and collective salary consultation system, Guangdong Province aims to increase the salaries of the workforce by more than 14 percent every year. A five-year plan to adjust the minimum wage is also in the works.

New trends demonstrate imbalanced income growth and economic development in Guangdong in recent years.

The per capita disposable income of urban residents and the per capita net income of rural residents in Guangzhou are both increasing much slower than the provincial GDP.

From 2000 to 2006, income levels decreased from 45 percent to 39 percent compared to provincial GDP. This decrease amounts to 21.9 percentage points since 1979, and the trend has shown no signs of stopping.

Guangdong has occupied the top position in total economic output in China since 1989. However, the average income of urban residents is lower than that of Zhejiang Province, and the increase rate of income in the province is lower than that of Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shandong, Zhejiang, and Fujian provinces.