Nikkei-Asia reported (June 13) that China's income inequality has grown despite village modernization. The urban-rural wage gap, it said, has widened 57% as small farms dominate the countryside and economic opportunity in the countryside remains sparse. The article disclosed that according to Chinese government data urbanites earned 43,834 yuan on average in 2020, while rural residents averaged 17,131 yuan. It said the rural income figure rose 82% from 2013, growing faster than the 66% increase for urban dwellers, given the low base figure in the countryside. But the gap in actual income widened by 57% over the seven-year period. It said many villagers leave for big cities as migrant workers, whose average earnings reached about 4,000 yuan a month in 2020 -- far better pay than for farmers. But they remain far behind office workers with white-collar employees in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities that host booming industries making 10,000 yuan to 30,000 yuan a month.

(Comment: China has an urban population of roughly 900 million while another 500 million live in rural areas.)