Economic inequality in China

Since the turn of the millennium, China has become the fastest growing economy in the world. This growth resulted in significant improvements in real living standards and reduction in poverty rates. The World Bank estimates that more than 60% of the population lived below the poverty line of $1 per day (PPP) at the start of the economic reforms. By 2004, poverty had fallen to 10 percent, suggesting that approximately 500 million people had been lifted out of poverty in one generation. At the same time, the pace of change has brought mixed results. China faces serious natural resource shortages and environmental problems. As people live in different areas, the differences between types grow.

In the past decade or so, China's Gini coefficient has generally been fluctuating and declining. After reaching its highest point of 0.491 in 2008, the Gini coefficient of the national per capita disposable income has shown a fluctuating downward trend since 2009. It dropped to 0.468 in 2020, with a cumulative decrease of 0.023. At the same time, the adjustment of residents' income distribution is increasing. During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, the average annual net transfer income per capita of residents across the country increased by 10.1%, faster than the growth of overall residents' income.