Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao bluntly warned Japan that its companies operating in China should raise pay for their workers at a high-level Japan-China meeting held in Beijing on Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Wen’s comments followed a call by Japan’s foreign minister, Katsuya Okada, for an improvement in business conditions for Japanese companies in China. A wave of labor disputes that has swept China this year have affected a number of high-profile Japanese investors, including Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. Wen responded by telling Japanese officials that the background to labor troubles in China is the relatively low level of pay at some foreign companies.