Over the past quarter-century China has seen a dramatic increase in income inequality, prompting a shift in China's development strategy and the adoption of an array of new policies to redistribute income, promote shared growth, and establish a social safety net. Drawing on of household-level data from the China Household Income Project, Changing Trends in China's Inequality provides an independent, comprehensive, and empirically grounded study of the evolution of incomes and inequality in China over time. Edited by leading experts on the Chinese economy, the volume analyzes this evolution in China as a whole as well as in the urban and rural sectors, with close attention to measurement issues and to shifts in the economy, institutions, and public policy. Specific essays provides analyses of China's wealth inequality, the emergence of a new middle class, the income gap between the Han majority and the ethnic minorities, the gender wage gap, and the impacts of government policies such as social welfare programs and the minimum wage.

Chapter 1. Changing Trends in China's Inequality: Key Issues and Main FindingsTerry Sicular, Shi Li, Ximing Yue, and Hiroshi SatoChapter 2. Overview: Incomes and Inequality in China, 2007-2013Chuliang Luo, Terry Sicular, and Shi LiChapter 3. China's Emerging Global Middle ClassBjörn Gustafsson, Terry Sicular, and Xiuna YangChapter 4. The Increasing Inequality of Wealth in ChinaJohn Knight, Shi Li, and Haiyuan WanChapter 5. Social Policy Reforms and Economic Distances in ChinaQin Gao, Sui Yang, Fuhua Zhai, and Yake WangChapter 6. Public Policy and Long-Term Trends in Inequality in Rural ChinaHisatoshi Hoken and Hiroshi SatoChapter 7. New Patterns in China's Rural PovertyShi Li, Peng Zhan, and Yangyang ShenChapter 8. Unequal Growth: Long-term Trends in Household Incomes and Poverty in Urban ChinaBjörn Gustafsson and Sai DingChapter 9. Consumption Inequality in Urban ChinaQingjie Xia, Shi Li, and Lina SongChapter 10. Income and Poverty Gaps between Han and Ethnic Minorities in Rural ChinaXiaomin Liu and Lidan LyuChapter 11. China's Urban Gender Wage Gap: A New Direction?Jin Song, Terry Sicular, and Björn GustafssonChapter 12. The Effects of the Minimum Wage Policy on the Wage Distribution in Urban China: Evidence from the CHIP DataXinxin Ma and Shi Li