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China’s National Bureau of Statistics Mentioned a New Gini Coefficient

Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently reported that, for the first time in ten years, China’s National Bureau of Statistics mentioned in a formally released report that China’s Gini Coefficient for the year 2010 was “a little higher than it was for the year 2000.” A Gini Coefficient is a number between 0 and 1 that reflects the level of differences in social income. The United Nations usually draws the line for alarm at 0.4. Above that number indicates a high potential for social instability. China’s National Bureau of Statistics released the number 0.375 for the year 1996. It reached 0.412 in year 2000. After that, the Bureau stopped releasing the number. The report released last month only mentioned that it was a “little higher.” When questioned by a reporter, an official from the Bureau responded that “numbers like this are intended for researchers only, not for the general public.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, January 9, 2012
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jp-01092012101659.html