Introduction

The distribution of income in China is a subject of great interest and considerable controversy. Part of the interest is due to the sheer size of the country: more than a billion people or one in every five persons on earth lives in China and this alone commands attention and interest. China is also the world’s largest developing country — by some indications one of the poorest of the developing countries — and the combination of a huge population and massive poverty attracts the interest of those concerned with world development. Finally, China is a socialist country undergoing major economic reforms, and after the collapse of communism in eastern and central Europe and in the former Soviet Union, China stands almost alone — with Vietnam and Cuba — in advocating a socialist path under the guidance of the Communist Party. This too focuses interest on China.