China Tells

China’s Gini Coefficient equals that of USA’s in 2008.Gini Coefficient is a measure of the gap between Rich and Poor developed by an Italian Statitician. The higher the Gini Coefficient, the wider the gap is between the Rich and the poor, or the higher concentration that wealth is held by the top richest people. Thanks to the fast economic development, a goup of Chinese people benefits from the open policy first and becomes the top richest in the country. However, based on the large population of 1.3 billion people, there are still vast amount of people who are making less than $1 a day and struggle to feed their stomach. The continual growth of Gini Coefficient could be one of the unstable factor in China. Across the world, Brazil is the country with the highest Gini coefficient in the world. Some developed countries, however, such as Germany, France and Japan, show a down trend of Gini coefficient, consistent with their super high tax to redistribute the wealth.

中国的基尼系数在08年上升到45，和美国处于同一水平。换句话说，中国的贫富差距程度和美国差不多。基尼系数越高，该国家的贫富差距就越大，财富就越集中于少数几个最富的团体。不断上升的基尼系数可能对社会带来潜在威胁。