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How Wide Is the Gap of China's Individual Income?
Since reform and opening up from the 80s the income level of China's urban and rural citizens has been greatly improved, while the income gap between different industries and areas is also widening. Statistics show that the Gini Coefficient of China's individual income is 0.424 in 1996, 0.456 in 1998, 0.457 in 1999 and 0.458 in 2000. According to international standard, China has entered the stage of "absolute disparity" and the gap is still widening.
The gap between rural and urban incomes has been enlarging in recent years. From 1998 to 2000 China's urban citizens' per capita income averaged 5458 yuan, 5888 yuan and 6316 yuan respectively, while the figure stood at 2162 yuan, 2210 yuan and 2253 yuan for rural dwellers. The former was 2.52, 2.66, 2.80 times respectively of the latter.
According to international practice, when the per capita GDP is between US$800 and 1000, the income of urban residents should be 1.7 times that of rural residents, but in China the figure is much higher, and still growing.
Figures from State Statistics Bureau tells that the growth rate of farmers' income had a drop from 1996's 9 percent to 2000's 1.9 percent, while that for urban residents had stayed around 7 percent for the same period. In 2000 the net income of China's rural residents was only 35.7 percent that of urban dwellers, 4.8 percent down compared with 1997's 40.5 percent. The per capita expense of rural residents was 33.41 percent that of urban people, 5.2 percent lower than 1997's 38.61 percent.
The income gap between different industries also expanded, especially in the 90s. With the development of market economy some monopolistic industries as finance, post and telecommunications got huge profits and their staff's salary increased greatly. While some basic industries as farming, animal husbandry, fishery, mining and some full-competition industries as social service, catering and architecture witnessed a decline of profits and a cut of state subsidy.
Statistics indicate highest income growth rate in the sectors of real estate, finance and insurance and technology and service in 2000 compaired with that of 1990, to reach 470, 542 and 466.8 percent respectively and against 236.4 percent for farming, animal husbandry and fishery and 206.8 percent for mining. The rate between the highest income sector and the lowest has amounted to 2.36:1 in 2000 from 1990's 1.80:1. Meanwhile, the sector of science research, tecnology and service, the sector of finance and insurance and the real estate industry had stood as the three pillor industries with highest income in 2000 to make farming, animal husbandry and fishery, mining and catering the industries with lowest income.
What's more, income disparity in different regions has also been widened. Taking rural residents' income as example, the absolute income gap between the highest in South China and the lowest in Northwest China was only 221 yuan in 1978, but the figure soared to 1774 yuan between East China and Northwest. The per capita income of farmers in Shanghai suburbs averaged 5596.37 yuan, 4.07 times of 1374.16 yuan in Guizhou, where farmers have reported the lowest revenue across the country.
At the same time, the disposable income discrepancy in urban areas has been enlarged. From 1997 to 2000, citizens in Shanghai and Beijing enjoyed a relatively rapid increase in their disposable income to reach a year-on-year 1.57 percent, against 0.25 percent in urban areas of Shanxi and Henan provinces. In 1997, Shanghai citizens boasted of their per capita income of 8438.9 yuan, the highest in the country and 1.69 times of 4989.9 yuan in Shanxi. The rate climbed to 2.48 in the year of 2000.
By PD Online staff member Li Heng
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