China's east-west income gap widens
Economists put the divide down to location of IT and finance companies
The income gap has widened between the country's poorer inland regions and richer east, home to much of the nation's burgeoning IT industry.
In 2014, employees working in the "non-private" sector in eastern regions enjoyed the highest pay growth, at 9.7 per cent, earning an average of 64,239 yuan (HK$81,296) a year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Incomes in western regions grew by 9 per cent last year, with the average reaching 51,204 yuan.
That left a gap of 13,035 yuan between them, an increase on the 11,595 yuan seen in 2013.
Economists attributed the difference partly to the location of most technology and finance companies in eastern areas.
The non-private sector includes government units, state-invested companies, state-controlled enterprises and joint-stock units with government influence.
Employees in the financial industry in the non-private sector earned the most of 19 industries measured, with workers earning an average of 108,273 yuan a year, thanks to hefty trading in the stock market. IT came second, with average pay at 100,797 yuan.