China's mid-income class has reached 300 million, accounting for 30% of the middle-income group globally, reports Outlook Weekly, a magazine hosted by Xinhua News Agency.
Chinese per capita disposable income of residents last year stood at 23,821 yuan (3664 U.S. dollars), up 44.3% compared to that of 2012.
Though there is no unified standard of middle-income, the criteria of annual income from 3650 to 36500 U.S. dollars issued by the World Bank is the most widely used, said National Statistics Bureau (NBS) spokesman Mao Shengyong.
According to an earlier survey published by Credit Suisse Research, there are over 1 billion people in the middle-income class worldwide, and 370 million of them are Chinese. The figure is similar to that issued by NBS.
Steady and rapid economic development in China, along with accelerating urbanization, new industries, an improving service industry and poverty-elimination efforts, have contributed to the expanding middle-income group, said Mao.
He added that with the greater middle-income group and improving income, residents will pay more attention to education, and talents will become a new pillar of economic development.
