Nearly 90 percent of Chinese people think that the wealth gap between the haves and the have-nots has widened to an alarming degree, according to a recent survey jointly conducted by the China Youth Daily and Sina.com.cn.

About 72.4 percent of the 10,250 polled attributed the widening gap to the existence of privileged groups. About 80.7 percent said it was time to correct the imbalances, and only 14.1 percent believed "there is no need to change, just let things be."

Asked whether there is a clear divide between rich and poor in China, 59.1 percent of the polled ticked: "Yes".

But another 55.9 percent chose "The Chinese must pull together despite these divisions for the common good" or "We need to get rich together."

Jia Kang, director of the Fiscal Science Institute under the Ministry of Finance, has listed several reasons for the growing wealth gap, including individual effort and talent, opportunities, unfairness caused by existing systems such as monopolies in certain sectors, hidden rules granting privileges to the few and extra incomes derived from corruption.

"The government should encourage those who get rich legally, crack down on those who get fat on illegal money and rectify system flaws that distort income distribution," Jia said.

Wei Jianing, deputy director of the Macro-Economics Department of the Development Research Center under the State Council said the biggest gap existed between urban and rural residents.

Official figures show per capita income in urban and rural areas was 10,493 yuan (about 1,312 U.S. dollars) and 3,255 yuan (about 407 U.S. dollars) respectively last year, meaning the gap between them has grown from 4,493 yuan in 2001 to 7,238 yuan now.

The growing wealth gap is a byproduct of China's economic and social development. Since China started its reform and opening-up policy in the late 1970s, its economy has grown at a rapid rate and emerged as the fourth largest in the world.

But at the same time, China has turned from being one of the most egalitarian countries in the world to a nation with one of the biggest wealth gaps.

Statistics from the World Bank show that China's Gini Coefficient, the leading measure of income inequality, surged from 0.29 in 1981 to the current 0.47, exceeding the internationally-recognized alarm level of 0.40.

Tang Min, chief economist of the Asian Development Bank Resident Mission in China, warned that any further widening of the wealth gap may reduce the public's support for the reform and opening-up policy, and may even lead to social turmoil.

Jia Kang said that China should tolerate the disparity in legal incomes. "After all, most Chinese earn their living through legal means. An immediate priority for the government should be to root out illegal income and make sure every one competes equally."

Over the past few years, the government has taken a series of measures to limit the widening wealth gap, including eradicating agriculture taxes collected from farmers, providing subsidies to grain producers, and increasing the minimum wage to benefit millions of migrant workers.

Data from the Ministry of Finance show that the central government spent more than 1.1 trillion yuan from 2003 to 2006 on agriculture and farmers, with an average year-on-year increase of 15.6 percent.

According to the 11th five-year (2006-2010) plan, China will channel more money into the construction of infrastructure in rural areas.

Source: Xinhua