China has witnessed a rising number of "mass incidents" triggered by labor disputes in the past 12 years, according to a senior official with the national legislature.

Yang Jingyu, chairman of the Law Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), chose not to give any figures or examples during a speech posted on the NPC's official website.

However, he said the number of labor disputes, mainly concerning unpaid wages, increased 13.5 times between 1995 and 2006.