Shanghai announced Wednesday it would raise minimum wages by up to 14 percent from April 1 to help low-income families keep up with surging prices.

The hike would bring the minimum monthly wage in the city to 1,280 yuan($194) from the current 1,120 yuan, the city`s government said at a press conference.

It is the 18th adjustment since 1993 when Shanghai established the minimum wage mechanism. 
 
The move comes after south China`s Guangdong province and the eastern province of Shandong hiked minimum wages from Tuesday.

Minimum wages have been rising around the country since last year in the wake of labor shortages, a spate of strikes and surging inflation.

The consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of China`s inflation, rose 4.9 percent in January from a year earlier as food prices increased 10.3 percent due to rising demand and a drought in key grain-growing regions.

Premier Wen Jiabao pledged during an on-line chat with the public Sunday that the government would raise salaries of low-income groups and minimum living allowances to ensure fair income distribution.