As China's Workers Get a Raise, Companies Fret

``Wages are surging this year in China and among its main low-wage Asian rivals, benefiting workers across the region. But the increases confront trading companies and Western retailers with cost increases and are making higher prices likely for American and European consumers... [Importer Li & Fung's] average costs for goods rose 15 percent in the first five months of this year compared with the same period last year. ''