China has 300-million middle-income earners, over 30% of the world’s total, according to Outlook Weekly, a magazine hosted by China’s Xinhua News Agency.

The average disposable income per capita of China stood at 23,821 RMB ($3,656) in 2016, 44.3% more than that in 2012. With the improving quality of Chinese economy, more and more people will join the middle-income group.

However, the middle-income class usually makes up more than 60% of the population in developed countries, noted Mao Shengyong, a spokesperson for China’s National Statistics Bureau (NBS). The middle-income group in China is growing, but there is still a huge gap, Mao added.

Though there is no standard definition of middle-income, the World Bank’s criterion of annual income between $3,650 and $36,500 has been widely adopted, said Mao.

Previous research by Credit Suisse revealed that there are around 1.05 billion people in the middle-income class globally, and 35% of them are in China.

Economic stability, urbanization, emerging industries, improving service sector, and poverty alleviation have all contributed to the enlargement of this group in China, according to Mao.