Since the reform and opening up, the income level of China's urban and rural citizens has been greatly improved, while the income gap between different professions and areas is also widening. The problem of income distribution has become a very noticeable issue among current social problems in China.

　　Rural & Urban

　　The gap between rural and urban incomes has been enlarging in recent years. From 1998 to 2000 China's urban citizens"per capita income averaged 5458 yuan, 5888 yuan and 6316 yuan respectively, while the figure stood at 2162 yuan, 2210 yuan and 2253 yuan for rural dwellers. The latter is only a quarter respectively of the former.

　　According to international practice, when the per capita GDP is between US and 1000, the income of urban residents should be 1.7 times that of rural residents, but in China the figure is much higher, and still growing.

　　Figures from State Statistics Bureau tells that the growth rate of farmers"income had a drop from 1996's 9 percent to 2000's 1.9 percent, while that for urban residents had stayed around 7 percent for the same period. In 2000 the net income of China's rural residents was only 35.7 percent that of urban citizens, 4.8 percent down compared with 1997's 40.5 percent. The per capita expense of rural residents was 33.41 percent that of urban people, 5.2 percent lower than 1997's 38.61 percent.

　　Different industries

　　The Beijing Labor and Social Security Bureau promulgated on May 30 the guidance salary of 264 kinds of jobs. Among which chairmen of board are the highest with the salary about 212 thousand Yuan and air attendants"salary ( 68 thousand) is on the top among people engaging in business service. While at the same time most peasants working on farms can only earn one thousand Yuan in a whole year.

　　The income gap between different industries also expanded, especially in the 90s. With the development of market economy, some monopolistic industries as finance, post and telecommunications got huge profits and their staff's salary increased greatly. While some basic industries as farming, animal husbandry, fishery, mining and some full-competition industries as social service, catering and architecture witnessed a decline of profits and a cut of state subsidy.

　　The average annual salary of employees in foreign firms and overseas firms stood at 15,037 yuan (US,811.69) and 12,547 yuan (US.69), respectively, in 2000, while that of employees with domestic private firms and collectively-owned enterprises totaled 7,443 yuan (US.75) and 7,642 yuan (US.72), respectively. Managers in local companies normally made twice the sum of local workers, but in some cities, the difference is less.

　　Meanwhile, the sector of science research, technology and service, the sector of finance and insurance and the real estate industry had stood as the three pillar industries with highest income in 2000 to make farming, animal husbandry and fishery, mining and catering the industries with lowest income.

　　According to a survey of salaries in 86 fields recently conducted by the Beijing Bureau of Statistics, the average yearly for workers of Beijing in 2001 was 19,155 yuan (US), a 13.7 increase over last year, given the price factors.

　　The survey also revealed, however, that despite general growth in incomes, the income gap in China's capital continued to grow last year. The city's highest salaries were 6.6 times as large as wages earned by the cities lower third, with the gap growing by 160 percent year-on-year.

　　Different regions

　　What's more, income disparity in different regions has also been widened. Taking rural residents"income as example, the absolute income gap between the highest in South China and the lowest in Northwest China was only 221 yuan in 1978, but the figure soared to 1774 yuan between East China and Northwest. The per capita income of farmers in Shanghai suburbs averaged 5596.37 yuan, 4.07 times of 1374.16 yuan in Guizhou,swheresfarmers have reported the lowest revenue across the country.

　　At the same time, the disposable income discrepancy in urban areas has been enlarged. From 1997 to 2000, citizens in Shanghai and Beijing enjoyed a relatively rapid increase in their disposable income to reach a year-on-year 1.57 percent, against 0.25 percent in urban areas of Shanxi and Henan provinces. In 1997, Shanghai citizens boasted of their per capita income of 8438.9 yuan, the highest in the country and 1.69 times of 4989.9 yuan in Shanxi. The rate climbed to 2.48 in the year of 2000.

　　Male & Female

　　A survey, carried out by the All-China Women's Federation and the National Bureau of Statistics, covered 48,192 people from 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, shows the income gap between males and females has widened by 7.4 percent in cities and 19.4 percent in the countryside, compared with 1990.

　　Relatively speaking, women in cities are in a better position than those women in countryside. Few woman in the countryside has a job and get much lower salary even if they are doing the same work.

　　Statistics show the average annual income of working women in Chinese cities stood at 7,409.7 yuan (892.65 U.S. dollars) in 1999, about 70.1 percent of what was paid to males. Over the same period the annual income of women farmers was 2,368.7 yuan (285.3 U.S. dollars), some 59.6 percent of male farmers"income.

　　The report said women doing the same job as men tend to be paid less. An example it cited was that the average incomes of female executives and senior professionals are only 57.9 percent and 68.3 percent respectively of those of their male colleagues.

　　Foreigners& local residents

　　In china, mostly big cities, there are active groups who wear western style clothes, drive cars to work, go to Starbucks in their spare time. These golden collars are foreigners in China. Comparing with those Chinese washing dishes abroad, most of these foreigners occupy high positions in companies. Their salaries are much higher than their Chinese colleagues even if they do the same work due to their foreign background, and their fluent "foreign" language.

　　That the income gap expands along with economic growth in the process of industrialization is not a phenomenon unique to China, but Lu Zhiqiang, deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council noted that China's problem is more complicated than other countries and regions; this is manifested in the following four aspects:

　　Firstly, the income gap is broadening at a very high speed. In a period of 20 years, China has changed from a country with a very narrow income gap to its entrysintosthe ranks of countries with great unequal incomes; such a speed is very high in the world.

　　Secondly, the polarization of incomes has a clear community character. Income level is closely related with regions, industries, enterprises and institutions. In terms of residents"incomes, such a yawning gap between different regions, urban and rural areas and different trades as in China is rare in the whole world.

　　Thirdly, the general public has shown dissatisfaction over the present income distribution method; especially they do not affirm that part of high income gained by high-income earners. About 70 percent of people think that the great disparity between the rich and the poor"has adversely affected social stability. People are showing great discontent with the irrationally high income gained through the monopoly of industries, and with the illegal gains derived from graft and corruption, and power-for-money transaction.

　　Fourthly, it is difficult to reverse the trend of the widening income gap. As the widening income gap is not completely caused by the distribution policy, so the problem cannot be resolved only by adjusting the distribution policy. Many other factors, such as disparities in regional and rural and urban economic development, imperfection in economic and legal system construction and limited means and functions concerning re-distribution of incomes, also increased difficulties in reversing the broadening gap.