Operations at a Honda parts factory in southern China partially resumed on Monday after nearly a week of disruption over a pay dispute, but some workers still refused to return, the company said.

The Honda Lock factory in the southern province of Guangdong is one of a string of factories in China -- and the third in the Honda family -- hit by a wave of industrial unrest in the so-called "workshop of the world".

A Hong Kong newspaper had reported that workers were going to stage a mass rally on Monday to air their salary grievances, but both Honda and a local Chinese official said no such protest took place.

"Over the weekend we reached an agreement with the representatives of the workers. The issue has been resolved," said a Tokyo-based spokesman for Honda Lock, whose workers walked out last week.

The spokesman told AFP that while most employees had gone back to work on Monday, some held out in "a display of their obvious dissatisfaction".

"As a result, operations have so far resumed at a very limited part of the lines," he said. "We hope to see full resumption there as early as Tuesday."

Asked about any problems on site, he responded: "We have not heard about it."

The South China Morning Post quoted a worker as saying they expected a "massive turnout" for a rally after the company posted recruitment advertisements on the streets of Xiaolan.

But a local county official, Xiang Jiandong, told AFP: "I am standing outside of the factory. I can see many workers are working now. Some of the workers have resumed work."

"There is no rally outside the factory," he said, adding that trade union and government officials were working with employees to resolve the dispute.

Honda Lock supplies car locks and key sets for Japan's number two automaker.

The subsidiary, which has about 1,500 employees, last week offered a pay rise of 100 yuan (15 dollars) a month from the current salary of around 1,700 yuan, but workers were demanding more than 2,000 yuan, a local official said.

The trouble at Honda came after a spate of suicides among Chinese assembly line workers for Taiwanese IT giant Foxconn -- which shone the global spotlight on conditions for China's millions of factory workers.

The parent firm of Foxconn -- which doubled the pay of workers in south China, where 10 of the 11 suicides took place -- has said its China commitment is "long term", dismissing rumours that rising wages could force it to leave.

The parent firm, Hon Hai Precision Company, also said it would be "expanding extensively in China, both in existing and new locations, in line with the specific requirements of our customers" -- including Apple, Sony and Nokia.

Honda's auto assembly lines run by its Chinese joint venture Guangqi Honda Automobile have been stalled several times in recent weeks because of labour disputes at its parts manufacturers.

Two other disputes -- at the company's main engine parts plant in Guangdong and at a factory making exhaust and muffler components -- have since been resolved.

China's state Xinhua news agency reported that Honda Lock workers had staged a "rally" on Sunday over the posting of job advertisements offering new employees more than they currently earn.

"The factory suddenly posted a want ad and their intention is very clear: they are threatening us striking workers," Xinhua quoted an employee representative as saying.

Honda has a production capacity of 650,000 vehicles a year in China.

Shares in Honda Motor surged 4.02 percent in Tokyo trade on Monday.