We document dramatic rising wages in China for the period 1978-2007 based on multiple sources of aggregate statistics …. Although real wages increased seven-fold during the period, growth was uneven across ownership types, industries and regions …. Since the late 1990s, the wages of state-owned enterprises have increased rapidly and wage disparities between skill …

. First, a highly skilled workforce is the engine of urban development, increasing urban wages and population. Second, big …