The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said on February 15 that the country will set up institutionalized arbitration offices for handling labor disputes and make them generally available in county-level regions by 2015.

According to government data, institutionalized arbitration facilities cover only 60 percent of the nation's municipal-level regions and only 40 percent of the nation's counties.

Disputes arising from wage delays are growing in China, especially for migrant workers without labor contracts. According to preliminary figures from the ministry, at least 14,000 companies had been delaying payment to migrant workers as of January 13.

The State Council, or China's cabinet, issued a plan to boost employment during the 2011-15 period, which says the percentage of those employed who sign proper labor contracts should be raised to 90 percent.