Residents of Shanghai, China's financial center, received an increase in their average salary since 2014. (Photo : Reuters)
Shanghai, the country’s financial hub, topped the list of cities in terms of per capita urban disposable income based on 2014 data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
The Guangming Daily reported that the per capita disposable income in Shanghai reached 47,710 yuan ($7,611), surpassing Beijing, the country's capital.
Zhejiang Province is next in the list with more than 40,000 yuan and a growth rate of nearly 8.9 percent.
Gansu Province came last in the list with per capita disposable income at 20,804 yuan, way lower than the national average.
The report noted that the country's urban disposable income rose 6.8 percent yearly to hit an average of 28,844 yuan, which is nearly triple that of rural areas for the same period of time.
The Chinese government is trying hard to address the huge income gap between the western and eastern regions as well as the urban and rural areas of the country.
The report added that the disparity in income was due to unfair distribution of resources and not only from the lack of opportunities, as the trend showed little sign of change.
For practical reasons, the growth targets in incomes were lowered in 26 provincial regions this year. The western region of the country made the largest cut as Sichuan and Gansu reduced their growth goals by 4 percent. On the other hand, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, and Guangxi Zhuang cut their targets by at least 3 percent.
Xinhua reported that income targets were lowered in many provincial regions in relation to economic growth rate goals as a result of weak domestic demand and low exports.
The report said that the reduction of income growth was in response to current situation of the country's economy.
