December 12, from 1978 to 2010 the per capita disposable income of Chinese urban households and rural residents increased by 55 times and 43 times, respectively, according to a new book.

However, the income gap between urban and rural residents is widening.

The book also indicated that the gap between the highest and the lowest income groups extended from 2.9 times in 1985 to 8.9 times in 2010. Data show that trend is set to continue.

Income disparity from 1978 to 2010, especially after the 2000s, continued to expand greatly, while the income gap stood at around 2 times globally.

In fact, the gini coefficient of indices of the income distribution gap has reached 0.48, far exceeding the accepted “red line” of 0.4, the book said.

Source:21cbh.com