Shenzhen Comes Top for Per Capita Disposable IncomeShenzhen is at the top among domestic Chinese cities in terms of per capita annual disposable income.A recent survey conducted by Shenzhen Statistics Information Bureau shows that the per capita annual disposable income in Shenzhen was 20,240 yuan (about 2,440 U.S. dollars) in 1999. This is more than 26.6 times the figure in 1979, one year before Shenzhen became a special economic zone (SEZ). Along with the general improvement in life, 70 percent of the families in Shenzhen own apartment flats or houses and other private properties and 20 percent of the households have their own cars. Eighty percent of the families in this southern Chinese city have taken out insurance policies for retirement pension and medical care. Thirty percent of the local households have also taken out commercial life insurance policies, according to the survey. Shenzhen became a SEZ on August 26, 1980, together with three other coastal cities of Zhuhai, Shantou and Xiamen. Hainan also joined the ranks in April 1988. Conspicuous changes have taken place in all the five SEZs, especially in the first four ones. Shenzhen, in particular, has become a city full of vitality and vigor. While enjoying social and economic progress in Shenzhen, local residents are confident that the goal set by the Shenzhen government to lead the country in realizing the socialist modernization by 2005 will be attained. |
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