China's rich-poor gap eases in 2013

BEIJING - China's Gini coefficient, an index reflecting the rich-poor gap, hit 0.473 in 2013, higher than the global warning level, but eased from 2012, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.

According to international or World Bank standards, if the Gini coefficient is above 0.4, the economy has much to do to improve income distribution, said Ma Jiantang, director of the NBS.

Ma said the country should boost reforms on income distribution.

An index of zero means pure equality, while an index of one means extreme inequality.

China's index has been retreating since it peaked at 0.491 in 2008, dropping to 0.49 in 2009, 0.481 in 2010, 0.477 in 2011 and 0.474 in 2012.

The index stood at 0.479 in 2003, 0.473 in 2004, 0.485 in 2005, 0.487 in 2006 and 0.484 in 2007.