From The People’s Daily Online:
The income gap between urban and rural residents may be as high as 3.3 to 1. The ratio may reach 4 to 1 by 2020 should no action be taken to curb the trend, revealed Zheng Xinli. Vice Minister, Policy Research Office of CPC Central Committee at a forum on county-level economy.
In the first three quarters this year, the urban-rural per capita income gap was 3.225 to 1. The figure was 3.23 to 1 and 3.209 to 1 in 2003 and 2004 respectively.
Widening gap
Should the ratio climb to 3.3 to 1, it will be the highest in history since the opening-up reform. This means the Gini Coefficient, used to measure the gap between the rich and poor, will continue to rise.
In fact the income gap ratio is much bigger if subsidies in cash and other non-currency benefits for urban residents are taken into account, according to Prof. Li Shi from Beijing Normal University. However he noted that the income gap this year will be narrower than that in 2004, since the farmers will enjoy big income increase in the fourth quarter.
