The local Consumer Price Index (CPI) should be used to help set the minimum wage for workers, according to a new plan expected to be finalized by the end of this year.

Yang Yongqi, legal expert at the Chinese Academy of Labor Security Sciences, told China Business News that a draft of salary regulations was finished and could be approved by the State Council this year.

The regulations, requested by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) and All China Federation of Trade Unions in 2008, said the provincial governments must take the local CPI into consideration before setting the minimum wage.

The salaries of employees in State-owned enterprises (SOE), especially those in industries that are monopolized, would be limited under the regulations, Yang said. Statistics showed that the average incomes of workers in such industries as electricity and tobacco were five to 10 times higher than those of the other industries.

Some researchers were skeptical about the impact of the new regulations.

Di Huang, a researcher at the institute of workers' salary under the MHRSS, said some questions must be answered in the draft including the definition of salary, the function of the government and the mechanism of raising the salary, the Economic Information Daily reported.

Wang Jian, a commentator on public issues, told China News Radio that laborers should not expect to see a sudden increase in wages since cheap labor is widely available in the country.