China is wealthier, but inner gap becomes wider too: Report

(People's Daily Online)

08:17, October 20, 2011

1. Action needed to address US debt issue
2. US rules out chance of 'cyber war' with China
3. Taiwan, mainland to ink nuclear agreement
4. Foreign banks optimistic over China expansion
5. China warns of 'grim situation' in foreign trade
6. Double-dip recession unlikely for China
7. Girl hit by 2 vans worsens; hero flees

What's happening in China

Themed restaurants attract many curious customers

1. School in NW China halts use of green kerchiefs
2. Farmer sold as slave to factory 'over complaint'
3. Supor: National standard to blame for test failure
4. Overuse of antibiotics concerns officials
5. Survey shows people lack trust in each other
6. Future bright for problem solvers in Party

China Features

1. Help to be made compulsary?
2. I stabbed my mom'
3. US' best partner
4. State Secrets
5. Marriages need cash and love
   1. What is wrong with US?
   2. Chinese culture of peace promotes development
   3. Red flags raised as Japan mulls repeal of arms ban
   4. Job death shows Americans' love of big business
   5. Wall Street leads the West to a world of chaos
   

   

   1. 110-carat diamond up for auction
   2. Michael Jackson's final hours shared
   3. Football: Lions stand tall
   4. US stocks sink despite jobs data
   5. Smartphone launches halt amid Jobs' death
   6. US tells Assad: Step down now
   7. Najib offers handouts in pre-election Budget

China is on path to become the world's second-wealthiest country after the United States with total fortune expected to reach US$40 trillion by 2016, Credit Suisse AG said in a report released yesterday.

Japan is currently the No 2 wealthiest state, but its stagnant economy ever since the 1990s has caused its gross wealth on a continuous comparative wane. China, which has surpassed Japan as the world's second-biggest economy, will soon catch up with its neighbor in terms of total wealth.

But, there exists an alarmingly big wealth divide in the rapidly growing China, the Credit Suisse report said.

The country’s accumulation of fortune will be achieved along with an expanding wealth gap where the Gini coefficient, a commonly used gauge of wealth inequality in a country, has reached a dangerous level, said the report.

Overall wealth at the hands of Chinese mainlanders is projected to reach US$39 trillion in the coming five years, Credit Suisse AG said in its annual Global Wealth Report.

China now has a total wealth of US$20 trillion, third in the world behind only the US and Japan but ahead of France, according to the report, which analyzes the wealth distribution in more than 200 countries.

Total fortune in China increased by US$4 trillion from January 2010 to June 2011, and is the second-highest contributor of global wealth growth after the US, the report said.

Wealth per adult in China has more than tripled from US$6,000 in 2000 to US$21,000 this year, the report said.

The report said that 37 percent of the adult population belongs to the middle-class bracket of the wealth pyramid with a fortune of US$10,000 to US$100,000 each, while about 6 percent of the adult population falls below US$1,000. And, 2.3 percent of them own per-capita wealth at more than US$100,000.

With the increasing wealth in the hands of successful entrepreneurs, professionals and investors, inequality has been rising quickly, the report cautioned. 

So far this year, China has gained more than a million millionaires for the first time and now has more than 5,000 ultra-high net worth individuals with average fortunes above US$50 million, just behind the US, the report said.

The Gini coefficient in China reached 0.5 last year after hitting the recognized warning level of 0.4 more than 10 years ago, according to a report by Xinhua news agency last year. Developed European nations and Canada tend to have Gini indices between 0.24 and 0.36, which is believed healthy.

A low Gini coefficient indicates a more equal distribution, with 0 corresponding to complete equality, while higher Gini coefficients indicate more unequal distribution, with 1 corresponding to complete inequality.

Email|Print|Comments（Editor：梁军）

Increases the bookmark

• twitter
• facebook
• Sina Microblog
• digg
• Google
• Delicious
• buzz
• friendfeed
• Linkedin
• diigo
• reddit
• stumbleupon
• Qzone
• QQ Microblog

Related Reading

1. China seen through 'colored lens': Ambassador to EU
2. China offers example for developing nations
3. China's 2011 foreign policy puts greater emphasis on Asia
4. China helps least developed countries with concrete actions
5. Chinese mainland tourists big spenders overseas
6. Strong public diplomacy vital for China
7. China and the World Can Grow Together: Chinese vice premier
8. China to be more open to world
9. The American dream of the Chinese rich

Leave your comment2 comments

Canada at 2011-10-2070.36.49.*

I’m not familiar with the Gini coefficient, but the gap between poor, middle class and rich in Canada is high [but not near as high as the U.S.], with the poorest homeless and begging on the street. The minimum wage is well below the poverty level. Many families depend on food banks not funded by the government. Canada is fully developed, is being called an energy superpower, the country is rich in natural resources, so there is no excuse for poverty. There is a much better social safety net in Canada than in the U.S. but it is being steadily eroded by right wing governments, along with civil and labour rights that took decades to win. Right wing governments are transferring the corporate and rich tax burden onto the masses. The middle class keeps shrinking. University is expensive and out of reach for many children. Many families are one pay cheque away from disaster. Canadians are heavily indebted and interest on credit card debt is about 19.8%,compounding. The Harper government is spending heavily on the military [Canada is not in danger of being attacked] and 10 billion+ for more prisons. Housing and rent in some parts of the country is very high. Our universal, almost free, health care is prized by Canadians, but right wing governments are willfully blind to the privatization that is occurring, and in some cases promoting it, falsely claiming privatization is the only thing that will make it sustainable. The U.S. is about the last country I would want to live in. As for China, does development come before wages, or wages before development. China’s leaders have done a terrific job on development; I hope they do an equally terrific job on narrowing the income gap.

Passor at 2011-10-20210.75.17.*

The inner gap is too dangerous!

Weekly review

1. China's JAC Motors to invest 500 mln USD in Brazil plant
2. Int'l firms trying hard to build image in China
3. US reporter talks West's anti-China campaign
4. U.S. official hails Chinese project in Texas
5. US Senate apologizes for laws against Chinese immigrants
6. Alibaba declares interest in purchasing Yahoo
7. China to cut fuel, diesel prices
8. The week in pictures