China's average salary level is expected to increase by 8.4 percent in 2011, the highest increase since 2008, the Fortune Weekly reported Friday, citing a report conducted by 51job, a Nasdaq-listed human resource solutions provider in China.

According to the report, the nation's salary level has risen 7.9 percent in 2010.

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The energy industry topped the salary-increase list last year, with an 8.9 percent year-on-year hike. The No 2 and No 3 chemical and financial industries have also seen an 8.7- and 8.4-percent growth, it said.

Among the 7,372 companies interviewed, 89 percent have claimed to "readjust" their employees' wages, the report said, adding that 87.3 percent of the firms made salary-readjustments in 2010.

The report also found that more than 24 percent of employees left their posts in the service industry last year.

However, it also said that 93.2 percent of the employees who have quit the jobs were of their own volition. "Lack of job security" – the report said– was the main cause of the high rate.

With China's economic development mode and the companies' profit model undergoing tremendous reforms, many people decided to find a better job when it was still easy for them to do, the report analyzed.