Never mind the fabulous riches of China’s leaders and their children, the Ferraris they drive, the Gucci they wear or the Château Lafite they drink – the nation has actually become a more equal place over the past three years, at least according to official data.
For the first time in more than a decade, the government has published figures for China’s Gini coefficient, an indicator that measures income disparity.
The National Bureau of Statistics said the Gini reading fell to 0.474 in 2012 from a peak of 0.491 in 2008. The index ranges from 0 to 1, and a lower coefficient indicates that wealth is spread more evenly throughout society.