Xia Xue, a human resources manager with Dalian Yidatec Co, said that the turnover rate of employees had previously determined whether employers raised wages or not.

"The software industry sees around 20 percent turnover of employees and it faces a labor shortage. I think collective wage negotiations would help solve these problems," she said.

Another collective contract signed on Sunday would give some 11,600 workers in 132 sports appliance manufacturers in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, a raise of 18 percent this year. The average wage was 1,450 yuan a month in 2011.

To meet the targeted raise, employers and workers agreed to increase the pay on 50 types of piecework by 6 to 36 percent.

The minimum yearly salary in the industry would also increase from last year's 13,000 yuan to 14,000 this year, thanks to the new contract.

The contract also stipulates that employers should not delay wage payments or decrease pay without proper reasons.

In addition, the contract would allow workers to enjoy paid leave - the longer they work for a company, the more paid leave they could get.

Yu Landi, a technician with Yangzhou Sen Sport, was pleased with the possible raise.

"I earned 1,500 yuan a month on average last year, and as my piecework wages were raised by 20 percent this year, I could earn 1,800 yuan each month," said the 35-year-old.

Mo Shihao, chairman of the sports appliance federation of trade unions in Xiaoji town, who represented workers and led the collective talk with employers, said collective wage negotiations provide a platform for employers and workers to sit down and understand each other's difficulties.

"At a time when there is a common shortage in the labor-intensive industry, collective wage negotiations are important because they could help stabilize employment and solve labor disputes," he said.

Mo said discussions are not necessarily all about raises. If enterprises undergo difficulties, workers can also agree on zero pay increases, or even wage cuts, to help employers through hardship, he said.

China plans to introduce collective wage negotiations in 80 percent of corporate units that have set up labor unions by the end of 2013.

A total of 1.74 million enterprises in the country had carried out collective wage negotiations by the end of 2011, covering more than 100 million workers, according to the All China Federation of Trade Unions, the top trade union organization.

In China, collective wage negotiations can be carried out on an enterprise, industrial or regional basis.