Shanghai employees saw their salaries increase 6.7% on average in the first half of the year, but the raise was the lowest of all China’s first-tier cities, according to a survey. Pay rises in Shenzhen, Beijing and Guangzhou ranged from 7.1% to 8.8%, while the average level in second-tier cities was 7%, according to a survey by China International Intellectech (Shanghai) Corp (CIIC). It also said 64% of Shanghai companies had increased pay for all employees. “The cost of employing people in Shanghai is very high after decades of fast growth,” said the CIIC survey center’s Pang Limin. Across the country, average pay rises dropped to 7% from 8.7% in the same period last year. Pang attributed the downward trend to China’s slowing economy. Real estate replaced the internet industry at the top of the pay rise list with an increase of 8.6% following a surge in house prices. Pang said companies in Shanghai were entering a period of low pay rises as they had more mature human resources management systems with multiple staff incentives and flexible benefits, such as stock shares and allowances. “Employers in other cities are learning such practices but they depend more on salary adjustment at this moment,” she said. There were also more foreign ventures in Shanghai while Guangdong had more local private companies, which had the highest increase in the survey, the Shanghai Daily reports.