Inequality in China 中国的不平等

The Great Divide of China 中国的巨大鸿沟

Feb 16th 2017

@(TheEconomist)[英语, 翻译, 经济学人]

JUST as China’s GDP has converged towards America’s, levels of inequality have also been catching up. That is one of the conclusions of research from five authors, including Thomas Piketty, a French economist famous for his work on wealth and inequality. Their new paper compares the evolution of inequality in China, America and France over four decades.

中国的GDP正在追赶美国，其国内不平等状况也是一样。这是由法国著名的研究非公平及财富的经济学家Thomas Piketty组成的五人小组得出的结论之一。他们最新发表的论文比较了近四十年中美国、中国和法国国内不平等的发展历程。
【converged 】趋近、趋于

Inequality has soared since China opened the door to private enterprise and growth took off. In 1978 the highest-earning tenth in China received just over a quarter of overall income before tax, significantly below the proportion in America and France at the time. By 2015, however, those top 10% of Chinese earners were paid two-fifths of total income—above the share in France, but still just below that in America (47%). Wealth, too, is concentrated in fewer hands: the richest 10% own nearly 70% of private wealth in China, up from 40% in 1995 (and not far below the American level of nearly 80%).

中国的不平等始于开放私营企业和经济腾飞。在1978年中国高收入阶层税前收入仅占全民总收入的四分之一，这一比例明显低于同期美国和法国的比例。截止2015年，中国收入前十分之一人群收入占全民收入五分之二，这一比例已经超过了法国，但是还没有达到美国47％的比例。财富分配则更加集中：中国最富有的前10％人占有了全中国70％的私有资产，这一比例在1995年只有40％。(这一比例已经和美国的将近80％相去不远。)

Rises at the top mean that the share of pre-tax income going to the poorest half of the Chinese population has shrunk dramatically and is now, at 15%, not much higher than the American equivalent. In both countries, the shares have fallen by nearly half since 1978 (see chart). Compare that with France, where the share is higher and has changed little, buoyed perhaps by labour-market policies, such as a more generous minimum wage.

高收入人群收入的上涨无疑会使收入偏低的约一半人口收入锐减，现在仅占15%，已经和美国对应比例近似。在中美两国，这一比例从1978年起都下降了将近一半。对比法国，由于更丰厚的最低工资等用工政策的影响，其低收入占比则相对较高，且变化不大。

Greater disparity between rich and poor in the West may well have driven anti-establishment sentiment. It might seem no less palatable in China, where the government still calls itself communist. But there the pain has been soothed by rapid growth: it has lifted all boats. Income for the poorer half of the population fell by 1% in America between 1978 and 2015. In China it quintupled. Another comfort is that measures suggest that in recent years income inequality has no longer been rising. This form of catch-up growth, at least, is on hold.

贫富群体之间巨大的财富差异在西方已经造成了反建制的思潮。鉴于政府依然称自己为共产主义者，这种仇富的情绪在中国似乎不合时宜。不过由于快速的经济增长造成的普遍收入增加，这种对比产生的阵痛被舒缓了一些。从1978到2015年，美国收入较低的一半人口收入平均下降1%。而中国这一比例为美国的5倍。另外则是数据显示收入不平等情况在近些年已经不再加剧。这种极速追赶的增速至少是缓和下来了。