The per capita disposable income of urban residents in Beijing reached 6,950 yuan (around US$869) in the first four months of the year, the capital city's statistical authority reports.

 

The figure indicates a year-on-year increase of 15.7 percent, or 14.7 percent allowing for price factors, according to Yu Xiuqin, spokesperson with the Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau.

 

Yu said urban people's salary increased by 22.6 percent in the first four months of the year, which greatly contributed to the income growth, according to Monday's Beijing Daily.

 

Rural people's income grew by 9.9 percent to reach 3,635 yuan (US$454) during the same period.

 

The city registered 61.6 billion yuan (US$7.7 billion) in fixed asset investment between January and April this year, up 20 percent on last year. Nearly 35.4 billion yuan (more than US$4.4) was invested in real estate, up 20.3 percent.

 

In the past five years, the disposable income of urban residents in Beijing registered an average annual growth rate of 10.4 percent, while the disposable income of rural residents had a 9.9 percent growth rate.

 

Beijing's permanent residents reached 15.38 million by the end of 2005, 453,000 more than that of 2004 and 1.744 million more than 2000, statistics show.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2006)