The income gap between urban and rural areas in China continued to widen last year as the economic slowdown left millions of migrant workers jobless, Chinese media reported Friday.
The average city dwellers income in 2008 was 3.36 times more than that of someone living in the countryside, according to an agriculture ministry report.
The gap is wider than the 3,33 times recorded in 2007. The average income of both rural and urban residents rose, but the growth in city dwellers earning power outpaced that of those living in the countryside, the report said.
The trend suggests the economic slowdown is foiling efforts by Chinas leaders to close the long-standing, sensitive wealth gap between the cities that have prospered since economic reforms began 30 years ago, and the villages that have lagged behind.
Deteriorating purchasing power in the rural areas could also hinder efforts to boost domestic consumer spending to help compensate for declining exports – a crucial part of the governments anti-recession strategy.
City dwellers earned an average annual income of 2.300 US dollar a year in 2008, Chen Xiwen, a senior rural planning official, reported at a recent conference in Beijing. The average rural income was about 690 dollar.
Incomes in Shanghai and some other big cities are about a third higher than the national average.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
