BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The government in the southern city of Shenzhen, one of China's major special economic zones, has lowered the income benchmarks for the first time since 1999 to soften the impact of the financial crisis on local companies, China Daily reported Thursday.

　　The municipal labor authority issues the income benchmarks annually to serve as a reference for 566 types of jobs in the city.

　　The highest-level and medium-level benchmarks stand at 23,700 yuan (3,470 U.S. dollars) and 2,460 yuan per month, respectively, decreasing by 8.5 percent and 3.9 percent each from last year.

　　However, the low-level income benchmark gained a 7 percent year-on-year rise this year to 1,102 yuan per month, which labor officials said should be attributed to the government's measures to protect low-income laborers.

　　"Our payment adjustment policy is to control the high-income group, expand the medium-income group and protect the low-income group. It's a way to narrow down the income gaps," Wu Liyong, director of the income division of Shenzhen Labor and Social Securities Department, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

　　Workers are encouraged to use the benchmark when negotiating their wage with employers.

　　Last year, the official surveys showed that the lowest-level salaries on average were 25 times less than the highest salaries. This year, surveys showed that gap has narrowed to 21.5.

　　The authority also recorded the biggest income gap in the financial industry, including security houses, insurance companies and banks, where the highest-paid person could be earning 80 times what the lowest-paid person earns.