The widening income gap among Chinese farmers and urban residents is the root cause of disharmony, said members of the Standing Committee of the 10the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing on Thursday.

The ratio of annual disposable income between Chinese farmers and urban residents was 1:2.57 in 1985. The gap widened to 1:3.23 in 2004.

The CPPCC standing committee members who are regarded as advisors in China's political life, warned people to be aware of the fact that China has 90 million people whose annual per capita net income stands at or below 865 yuan (about US$105). These people account for 10 percent of the total rural population.

An Qiyuan, who is attending the 10the meeting of the CPPCC Standing Committee, also called for much attention to be given to widening income disparity among various trades and areas.

The income of best-paying professions was 2.62 times of that for the lowest-paying professions in 2000. But the figure rose to 3.98 times in 2003 and 4.25 times in 2004 respectively.

Statistics of the first nine months showed, the income was 18,798 yuan for people working in the computer and software sector, 15,982 yuan for people in the fields of finance, and 15,498 for people in the science and technology sector.

But the income of low-paid professions such as agriculture, animal husbandry and fishery, hotel and restaurant, wholesale and retail sectors ranged from 4,655 yuan to 8,057 yuan.

The income was also diverse for different regions. The per capita income of China's top five cities, namely Shanghai and Beijing municipalities and Zhejiang, Guangdong and Fujian provinces, averaged 7,453 yuan in the first half of this year, which doubled the per capita income of the five poorest provinces and autonomous regions.

Chinese experts have repeatedly warned that growing income gap will pose a threat to social stability and urged measures to be taken to solve the problem.

The government should expand the social security network to entire low-income population in urban areas, including the unemployed and migrant workers, Ding Ningning, a researcher of the State Council's Development Research Center, said.
 
(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2005)