CONSUMPTION BOOM: Customers pick up cosmetics at a duty-free shop in Sanya, Hainan Province (HOU JIANSEN)

Huang Mei, a migrant worker from Sichuan Province now living in Beijing, is satisfied with her income. She earns 3,000 yuan ($473) per month as a cleaner in a department and an additional 2,000 yuan ($316) from household cleaning.

"Although I have to work long hours, I am happy to earn 5,000 yuan ($790) a month. As far as I know my income was even higher than some university graduates," said Huang. Huang's husband also earns around 5,000 yuan as a courier in Beijing.

For many Chinese, the past year has been one of increases in wages, because of various government policies.

Increased incomes will inevitably help boost consumption. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), retail sales of consumer goods totaled 16.35 trillion yuan ($2.58 trillion) in the first 11 month of 2011, growing 17 percent year on year.

It's foreseeable that the government is sure to continue its efforts to boost residential income.

Fan Jianping, chief economist with the State Information Center, estimates that retail sales of consumer goods may grow by 13.2 percent in 2012, and nominal growth in the indicator will likely be 17 percent.

Swollen pockets

Wang Bin, a primary school teacher in Sichuan Province, earns 3,300 yuan ($523) per month. In the four years after he took the teaching job, his salary only increased 20 percent.

But for Wang, the biggest change in his payroll in 2011 is the zero under the individual income tax category.

Effective September 1, the amended individual income tax law raised the monthly tax exemption threshold from 2,000 yuan ($313) to 3,500 yuan ($547).

Under the new amendment, about 7.7 percent of wage earners pay taxes, down from the previous 28 percent. The number of income tax payers has been reduced from 84 million to 24 million.

Meanwhile, a total of 21 regions across China adjusted their minimum wage standards in the first three quarters of 2011, with an average overall increase of 21.7 percent year on year, according to Yin Chengji, spokesman of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Shenzhen, Guangdong Province had the highest nationwide minimum wage at 1,320 yuan ($207) per month and Beijing had the highest minimum hourly wage at 13 yuan ($2) per hour, said Yin.

According to the NBS data, the per-capital income of urban residents was 16,301 yuan ($2,575) in the first three quarters of 2011, with a nominal growth of 13.7 percent. Urban residents' wage income grew 11.9 percent. For rural residents, their per-capita cash income was 5,875 yuan ($928), with a nominal growth of 20.7 percent, and their wage income grew 21.9 percent.

Diversified shopping

Last year, for many Chinese netizens, frequenting online shopping sites became a part of their daily routine.

Liu Xinlu, a housewife in Shenzhen, has been an online shopper for more than three years. This year nearly 30 percent of her expenses were spent on online purchases.

"Whatever I need, I go to Taobao.com I have a parcel to arrive almost everyday," Liu said.

Online shopping has become the new engine of China's consumer economy, said Qu Weizhi, President of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce.