Beijing leads country in annual income

Beijing employees earn more on average than others around the country, according to data released by 20 of China's provincial-level regions, while experts are calling for a greater focus on income gaps.

Nine provinces and two provincial-level regions -- Shanghai and Tianjin -- are yet to release income data for 2014.

The average salary of urban employees in Beijing's public sector is 102,268 yuan ($16 475), as much as 1.9 times more than those in the private sector.

The capital is the only provincial-level region to record an annual income of more than 100,000 yuan, which is 2.4 times that of Central China's Henan province (42,179 yuan).

Data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show the average annual income of urban employees in the non-private sector rose by 9.4 percent year-on-year to 56 339 yuan at a national level. Taking into account price rises, the average salary increased by 7.1 percent.

Urban employees in the private sector earned 36,390 yuan on average, experiencing a growth rate that surged by 11.3 percent, or 9.0 percent in real terms.

Feng Naicai, director of the population and employment department of the NBS, said it's normal from a probability perspective that many people may feel their individual income amount or growth is below the national average level.

"There are a few who earn a lot while the majority earns below average," he added.

Li Shi, an expert in wealth distribution studies at the Beijing Normal University, said China needs to strengthen the reform of wealth distribution and close the income gap, giving priority to middle-and-low income sectors of the population.