A two-week-old strike at Honda Motor Co.'s plant in Guangdong Province, China, reflects the undervaluation of labor in the country, which has seen wage hikes lagging behind the rate of economic growth, state media said Tuesday.

From 2002 to 2009, China's gross domestic product grew at an average annual rate of about 10.1 percent, while income rose by about 8.2 percent each year, a commentary published by the official Xinhua news agency said.

More than two-thirds of employees earn less than the national average monthly salary of 2,152 yuan (about ¥28,700), with 17 percent of workers earning less than 1,000 yuan a month, it said.