Foreign-run factories in China have been targeted in recent labour unrest as workers gamble on overseas companies responding to their demands and government officials supporting their actions.

A run of suicides at Taiwan's Foxconn, stoppages at Japan's Honda and other actions have led to hefty pay rises as firms move to protect their global brands and keep assembly lines open, experts say.

"(The workers) may feel they can get a little bit more traction with a foreign company, especially a high-profile one," said Patrick Chovanec, an economist at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

"The companies are concerned about their image at home and abroad, whereas a Chinese subcontractor making soap possibly wouldn't care what the world thought of them."

The unrest has sparked fears that the days of cheap Chinese labour could soon be over for foreign investors -- and for consumers accustomed to inexpensive goods.

In response to 11 suicides among its Chinese work force, Foxconn -- which counts Apple, Dell and Sony among its clients -- doubled salaries amid calls by labour activists for a global boycott of Apple's iPhone.

Honda offered a 24 percent rise to workers at its main parts factory while employees at a plant making car locks and key sets resumed work this week after agreeing to an undisclosed hike.

Taiwanese handset component maker Merry Electronics Co. raised the basic wages of 7,000 staff at its Shenzhen city factory by 17 percent to end a brief strike, local media reported.

And US fast-food giant KFC agreed a rise for 2,000 staff in northern Shenyang city after months of trade union pressure.

In the latest action, workers at a Toyota-affiliated parts factory in northern China walked out this week reportedly demanding a pay increase.

The strike ended Wednesday and production was unaffected, a Toyota spokesman said.

Nearly a quarter of Chinese employees have not had a raise in five years, according to the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, despite recent high inflation.

Chovanec said today's disputes resemble Nike's predicament in the early 1990s, when it faced an outcry over Asian factory conditions.

"It wasn't targeted because it was the worst offender," said Chovanec.

"It was targeted because it was high profile and they (labour activists) thought it would attract more attention and it would be more responsive."

Savvy workers also knew officials were more likely to support action against a foreign company than a domestic firm, said Geoffrey Crothall, at the China Labour Bulletin in Hong Kong.

"Owners of domestic enterprises have better connections with government officials and I think that has probably got a lot to do with it," he said.

The issue has received widespread coverage in state media and Premier Wen Jiabao this week called for better treatment of migrant workers, amid concern of wider social turmoil.

Media outlets, however, have focused on disputes in foreign-owned factories, giving the impression there are few problems at Chinese-run plants, said Crothall.

"In general, strikes are not widely reported in China. I think there is a lot going on (in Chinese factories) that we don't know about," he said.

Australian National University professor Anita Chan noted the recent actions had specifically hit Asian-run factories and signalled workers were fed up with harsh treatment.

But government sympathy may not last if disputes begin to hurt the economy. Officials have repeatedly sought to ease concerns by saying foreign firms remained welcome.

"The government's view seems to be that wage increases and better conditions for Chinese workers are desirable," said Mark Williams, senior China economist at Capital Economics in London.

"But at the first sign that disruption is causing foreign firms to rethink their investment in China I would expect the government to bring protests to a halt."