Average wages in China’s manufacturing sector¹ have soared above those in countries such as Brazil and Mexico and are fast catching² up with Greece and Portugal after a decade of breakneck growth that has seen Chinese pay packets treble.

中国制造业的平均工资已经超过巴西和墨西哥等国水平，并且正在迅速赶上希腊和葡萄牙。此前中国的工资水平经历了持续10年的迅猛上涨，达到原有水平的三倍。

Across China’s labour force as a whole, hourly incomes now exceed those in every major Latin American state apart from Chile, and are at around 70 per cent of the level in weaker eurozone countries, according to data from Euromonitor International, a research group.

研究集团欧睿国际(Euromonitor International)的数据显示，就中国的劳动力队伍整体而言，每小时收入现在已高于除智利以外的任何拉美大国，并且已达到较弱的欧元区成员国水平的70%左右。

The figures indicate the progress China has made in improving the living standards of its 1.4bn people, with some analysts⁴ arguing that increases in productivity could push manufacturing wages even further beyond what are traditionally seen as middle-income countries. But the fast-rising wage levels mean China could also start to lose jobs to other developing countries willing to undercut it.

这些数字表明，中国在提高其14亿人的生活水平方面取得了进展；一些分析家提出，生产率的提高可能使中国制造业工资进一步超过传统上被视为中等收入国家的水平。但是，快速上升的工资水平也意味着，中国可能开始让愿意承受低工资的其他发展中国家夺走一些就业岗位。

The data also highlight the problems facing Latin America, where wages have stagnated⁵ and sometimes fallen in real terms, and Greece, where average hourly wages have more than halved⁶ since 2009, according to Euromonitor.

欧睿的数据还突显了拉丁美洲（该地区工资停滞，有时实际水平下降）和希腊（平均时薪自2009年以来降低一半以上）面临的问题。

“It’s remarkable⁷ how well China has done compared to everybody else,” said Charles Robertson, global chief economist⁸ at Renaissance⁹ Capital, an investment bank focused on emerging markets. “It’s converging¹⁰ with the west when so many other emerging markets haven’t.”

“引人注目的是，与其他所有国家相比，中国做得非常出色，”专注于新兴市场的投行晋新资本(Renaissance Capital)的全球首席经济学家查尔斯?罗伯逊(Charles Robertson)表示，“中国正在赶上西方水平，而其他这么多新兴市场做不到这一点。”

Average hourly wages in China’s manufacturing sector trebled between 2005 and 2016 to $3.60, according to Euromonitor, while during the same period manufacturing wages fell from $2.90 an hour to $2.70 in Brazil, from $2.20 to $2.10 in Mexico, and from $4.30 to $3.60 in South Africa.

根据欧睿的数据，中国制造业的平均小时工资在2005至2016年间翻了三倍，达到3.60美元，而同期巴西制造业的时薪从2.90美元降至2.70美元，墨西哥从2.20美元降至2.10美元，南非从4.30美元降至3.60美元。

Chinese wages also outstripped¹¹ Argentina, Colombia and Thailand during the same time, as the country integrated more closely into the global economy after its 2001 admission into the World Trade Organisation¹².

同期，随着中国在2001年加入世界贸易组织(WTO)之后更紧密地融入全球经济，其工资水平还赶超了阿根廷、哥伦比亚和泰国。

“We have seen pretty explosive wage growth in China since the period of joining the WTO,” said Alex Wolf, senior emerging markets economist at Standard Life Investments.

“自加入世贸组织以来，中国的工资水平出现了爆炸性上涨，”标准人寿投资(Standard Life Investments)的新兴市场高级经济学家亚历克斯?沃尔夫(Alex Wolf)表示。

Euromonitor compiled its data from information provided by the International Labour Organisation, Eurostat and national statistics agencies, subsequently converting them to dollar terms and adjusting for inflation. But the data do not take into account differing costs of living.

欧睿从国际劳工组织(ILO)、欧盟统计局(Eurostat)和各国统计机构提供的信息汇编其数据，然后将其转换为美元，并进行通胀调整。但这些数据没有考虑生活开销的不同。

The rise in Chinese manufacturing income contrasts with the decline in other countries — such as Argentina and Brazil. Even in India, which has seen rapid economic growth, manufacturing wages have flatlined since 2007 at just $0.70 an hour.

中国制造业收入的增长与其他国家（如阿根廷和巴西）的下降形成对比。即使是在近年经历了快速经济增长的印度，制造业工资自2007年以来也一直陷于停滞，徘徊在每小时仅0.70美元水平。

Manufacturing wages in Portugal have plunged¹³ from $6.30 an hour to $4.50 last year, bringing wage levels below those in parts of eastern Europe and only leaving them 25 per cent higher than in China.

葡萄牙的制造业工资已从每小时6.30美元大幅降至去年的4.50美元，使该国工资水平低于东欧部分地区，而且只比中国高出25%。

Manufacturing workers in China are among the better paid in a country where wage distribution is becoming increasingly unequal. But income levels are rising across the economy as a whole, with the Chinese average wage for all sectors¹⁴ increasing from $1.50 in 2005 to $3.30 last year. That level is higher than average wages for Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Thailand and the Philippines.

在工资分配越来越不平等的中国，制造业工人属于收入较高的人群。但中国经济作为一个整体的收入水平也在上升，涵盖所有经济部门的中国平均工资从2005年的1.50美元涨至去年的3.30美元，高于巴西、墨西哥、哥伦比亚、泰国和菲律宾水平。

Oru Mohiuddin, strategy analyst³ at Euromonitor, noted¹⁵ that Chinese workers’ productivity levels had risen even faster than their salaries. “You have to put [the wage inflation] in context,” she said. “Manufacturers will still benefit from being in China.”

欧睿的战略分析师欧鲁?莫修丁(Oru Mohiuddin)指出，中国工人的生产率水平比他们的工资增长得更快。“你必须把（工资通胀）放在整体背景中看待，”她表示，“制造商仍然获益于在中国开展经营。”

The size of China’s domestic market is likely to help the country’s manufacturing workers, despite rising labour costs. “Across a range of sectors China will account for 20 per cent of the market by 2020, similar to North America and western Europe,” said Ms Mohiuddin.

中国国内市场的规模有望帮助该国的制造业工人，尽管劳动力成本不断上升。“到2020年，中国在一系列行业都将占到20%的市场份额，类似于北美和西欧，”莫修丁表示。

She added that given such a market share was far ahead of India’s 4.8 per cent and Brazil’s 3.3 per cent, “it makes sense for [manufacturers] to be based in China”.

她补充说，鉴于这样的市场份额远远领先于印度的4.8%和巴西的3.3%，“（制造商）落户中国是合乎逻辑的”。

But Mr Robertson of Renaissance Capital noted that the ageing of China’s population, and the expected reduction of working age people, could lead to higher wage pressure in coming years.

但是晋新资本的罗伯逊指出，中国人口老龄化和工作年龄人口预期中的减少，可能在未来几年带来更高的工资压力。