But at the same time, China has turned from being one of the most egalitarian countries in the world to a nation with one of the biggest wealth gaps.

Statistics from the World Bank show that China's Gini Coefficient, the leading measure of income inequality, surged from 0.29 in 1981 to the current 0.47, exceeding the internationally-recognized alarm level of 0.40.

Tang Min, chief economist of the Asian Development Bank Resident Mission in China, warned that any further widening of the wealth gap may reduce the public's support for the reform and opening-up policy, and may even lead to social turmoil.

Jia Kang said that China should tolerate the disparity in legal incomes. "After all, most Chinese earn their living through legal means. An immediate priority for the government should be to root out illegal income and make sure every one competes equally."

Over the past few years, the government has taken a series of measures to limit the widening wealth gap, including eradicating agriculture taxes collected from farmers, providing subsidies to grain producers, and increasing the minimum wage to benefit millions of migrant workers.

Data from the Ministry of Finance show that the central government spent more than 1.1 trillion yuan from 2003 to 2006 on agriculture and farmers, with an average year-on-year increase of 15.6 percent.

According to the 11th five-year (2006-2010) plan, China will channel more money into the construction of infrastructure in rural areas.

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