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January 21, 2013

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Beijing to release inequality index

BEIJING is the first city in China that plans to release its own income inequality index, a figure that for the nation exceeds the warning level set by the United Nations.

The city plans to release the figure, called a Gini coefficient, for 2012, a National Bureau of Statistics Beijing survey branch spokesman said yesterday.

Gini coefficient, or Gini index, uses a figure of 0 to represent equality and 1 inequality.

Xing Zhihong, the Beijing spokesman, said that China's statistics departments used to publish two indexes - the per capita disposable income of urban residents and the per capita net income of rural residents - to reflect income distribution.

"However, we will act according to the schedule of relevant departments and carry out a unified investigation into the income of both urban and rural residents, and publish the Gini number in a timely manner," Xing said.

According to original indexes, in 2012, per capita disposable income of urban residents in Beijing was 36,469 yuan (US$5,864). Per capita net income of rural residents was 16,476 yuan (US$2,650).

On Friday, China released the national index for 2012, saying that the Gini coefficient reached 0.474, higher than the warning level of 0.4 set by the United Nations. The national index has retreated gradually since peaking at 0.491 in 2008, dropping to 0.49 in 2009, 0.481 in 2010 and 0.477 in 2011.

"The statistics highlight the urgency for our country to speed up income distribution reforms to narrow the gap," Ma Jiantang, NBS director, said.




 

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