ABSTRACT
This statistics-based study shows that in China the urban-rural income gap is contributing more to general income inequality than regional income gaps are. The regional income disparity sets in an east-west plus central contrast, while the urban-rural gap is most significantly present in the west and central areas between the cities and the countryside. Rural migrant laborers have helped shrink the urban-rural and regional income gaps. However, when the economy is slowed by the global financial crisis to, a number of public actions are crucial and urgent to reduce income inequality and enhance social stability. The actions would include an immediate social bail-out and provisions for social security for rural-based migrants currently working in the cities, employment programs targeting low-income group as well as encouraging entrepreneurship.
