The Economic Daily, a financial paper under China’s State Council, recently published its 2016 report on Chinese household wealth, indicating huge income disparities between populations and regions.
The report, which covered 12,000 households in 25 provinces, revealed that the average per capita wealth of urban households reached 208,317 yuan (US$32,048) in 2015, 3.2 times the figure recorded in rural households. Distinct regional gaps were also evident – average per capita household wealth in industrialized eastern regions amounted to 187,793 yuan (US$28,891) in 2015, 1.44 times higher than in central areas and 2.52 times higher than in the poorer west.
According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the country’s Gini coefficient, an international index measuring income disparity, has been shrinking for seven consecutive years, dropping to 0.462 in 2015, yet income disparity in China continues to cross international warning lines. Analysts have appealed to the government to make greater efforts to balance the distribution of wealth.
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