CHINA is expected to replace Japan as the world's second wealthiest
country after the United States with total fortune of nearly US$40
trillion by 2016, Credit Suisse AG said in a report today.
However,
the accumulation of wealth will be achieved at the expense of an
expanding wealth gap in China where the Gini coefficient, a commonly
used measure of income inequality, has already passed an extremely
dangerous level.
The country has already surpassed Japan as the world's second biggest economy.
Overall
wealth in the hands of mainland Chinese people is projected to reach
US$39 trillion in the next five years, a level that the US achieved in
22 years between 1968 and 1990, the Zurich-based firm said in its second
annual Global Wealth Report.
China currently holds wealth of
US$20 trillion, the third highest in the world only behind the US and
Japan but ahead of France, according to the report, which analyzes the
wealth distribution of all the 4.5 billion adults in more than 200
countries.
Total fortune in China increased by US$4 trillion
from January 2010 to June this year and is the second highest
contributor to global wealth growth after the US, the report added.
Wealth
per adult in China has more than tripled from US$6,000 in 2000 to
US$21,000 this year, while increasing by 21.6 percent in the past year
and a half, according to the report.
However, with the
increasing wealth of successful entrepreneurs, professionals and
investors, wealth inequality has been rising strongly, the report
cautioned.
The Gini coefficient in China has reached 0.5 last
year after reaching the recognized warning level of 0.4 more than 10
years ago, according to a report by Xinhua news agency in May last year.
Developed European nations and Canada tend to have Gini indices between 0.24 and 0.36.
A
low Gini coefficient indicates a more equal distribution, with 0
corresponding to complete equality, while higher Gini coefficients
indicate more unequal distribution, with 1 corresponding to complete
inequality.
Source: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/nsp/Business/2011/10/19/China%2Bto%2Bovertake%2BJapan%2Bas%2B2nd%2Brichest%2Bnation/
