SHANGHAI (REUTERS) - The monthly minimum wage in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin will go up by between 11.4 per cent and 12.3 per cent from Tuesday, the semi-official China News Service reported, as the government continues efforts to boost domestic demand.

The central government has repeatedly pledged to increase workers' share of national income, pushing up wages steadily for more than a decade. It accelerated hikes in 2010 as an economic boom spread to the hinterland and fuelled competition for labour.

In the latest hikes, wages will increase the most in Shanghai by 12.3 per cent to 1,820 yuan (S$368) a month from 1,620 yuan, and 21.4 per cent on an hourly basis to 17 yuan from 14 yuan, according to the report on the website www.chinanews.com.

In the city of Tianjin, the monthly minimum wage will go up to 1,680 yuan from 1,500 yuan, an increase of 12 per cent. The hourly minimum wage will also rise 12 per cent, to 16.8 yuan from 15 yuan, it said.

In the capital, Beijing, the monthly minimum wage will rise 11.4 per cent to 1,560 yuan from 1,400 yuan, while the hourly minimum wage will increase 11.2 per cent to 16.9 yuan from 15.2 yuan, it said.

Minimum wages have also been hiked this year in Chongqing, Shaanxi, Shenzhen and Shandong, the China News Service reported.

Under the government's 2011-15 "five-year plan" the minimum wage is expected to be raised by an average of 13 per cent a year, according to the government-run website china.org.cn.