And the workers rejoice!

Shanghai has raised its minimum wage. Now workers only need to work three hours to afford a value meal at McDonald's. (An 11-hour day will almost get you Tetley's draft beer at Face.)

The minimum hourly wage in Shanghai is now RMB 6 ($0.73), up from RMB 5.5 ($0.67). These figures are "excluding the social insurance charges." The minimum monthly pay went from 635 yuan ($76.80) to 690 yuan ($83.4 US dollars). The new minimum figures for Beijing are both higher (RMB 7.3 per hour) and lower (RMB 580 per month) than Shanghai's.

According to Xinhua, "The new standards are applicable to all employees in the two municipalities, including the retired people, rural migrant workers and casual laborers employed by private industrial and commercial firms."

In other news, Shanghai was recently rated the world's 30th costliest city. Beijing was No. 19.