Urban, rural Chinese incomes, wealth see sustained rise

Chinese citizens have seen a continuous increase in their income and wealth over the past three decades since the inception of the opening-up and reform in 1978, as the economy maintains high growth, data from the Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Wednesday.

The country's urban residents' per capita disposable income has risen from 343 yuan ($56.29) in 1978 to last year's 24,565 yuan, equaling an annualized growth rate of 13.4 percent, said an NBS report released Wednesday.

During the period, -rural resident's per capita net income grew by an annualized rate of 12.8 percent to 7,917 yuan in 2012 from a mere 134 yuan in 1978.

Meanwhile, both urban and rural residents have witnessed a sustained rise in their wealth. At the end of 2012, yuan deposits of Chinese residents totaled 39.96 trillion yuan, a 1,896 fold rise compared to the end of 1978, the NBS statistics revealed.

Along with rising incomes, people's livelihood has also improved. The Engel coefficient - measuring food expenditure as a proportion of income - of the country's urban residents fell by 21.3 percentage points to 36.2 percent in 2012 from 1978, pointing to improving living levels.

The coefficient of rural residents dropped by 28.4 points to 39.3 percent in 2012.

Housing conditions also improved, with urban residents' per capita housing area -rising to 32.9 square meters in 2012 from 26.2 square meters in 1978. Rural dwellings per capita rose by 29 square meters during the period.