Rising Income and Wealth Inequality in China: Empirical Assessments and Theoretical Reflections

The lack of up-to-date data has hindered recent research on China's income and wealth inequality. This article fills this void by bringing current official and private data sources looking at these inequalities. The authors further investigate the underlying structural and sectoral policies cau...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of contemporary China Vol. 33; no. 147; pp. 544 - 559
Main Authors Simon Xiao Bin, Zhao, David Wai Ho, Wong, Chen Han, Shao, Kai Ming, Liu
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 03.05.2024
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Capitalism
Capitalist societies
China
Development policy
Economic inequality
Households
Housing
housing assets
Income inequality
Manufacturing
Market economies
Mortgages
National development
patrimonial capitalism
Real estate
residential real estate mortgages
Wealth
Wealth distribution
wealth inequality
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Summary:The lack of up-to-date data has hindered recent research on China's income and wealth inequality. This article fills this void by bringing current official and private data sources looking at these inequalities. The authors further investigate the underlying structural and sectoral policies causing these disparities. They find that the top 1% income share roughly equals that of the bottom 50%. The personal wealth share going to the top 1% exceeds by 5 times the wealth going to the bottom 50%. Failures in redistributive policies have primarily caused these growing income and wealth gaps. Sectoral and national development policies favoring the real estate industry at the expense of the manufacturing industry have also resulted in large-scale wealth shifts, with Chinese households holding increasing housing assets and residential mortgages. This article shows that Piketty's patrimonial capitalism not only applies to capitalist countries but also extends to China's socialist market economy.
ISSN:1067-0564
1469-9400
DOI:10.1080/10670564.2023.2172553