Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of cities in China varies tremendously, mainly depending on the location of the city. Cities with the highest per capita GDP are mainly to be found in coastal provinces in East China and in South China, like Guangdong province. The poorest cities are located in the still less developed western parts of China, like Gansu province, or in the Chinese rust belt in Northeastern China, like Heilongjiang province.

In 2023, the annual per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in different provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China varied from approximately 200,300 yuan in Beijing municipality to roughly 47,900 yuan in Gansu province. The average national per capita GDP crossed the threshold of 10,000 U.S. dollars in 2019 and reached around 89,400 yuan in 2023. Regional economic differences in China The level of economic development varies considerably in different parts of China. Four major geographic and economic regions can be discerned in the country: The economically advanced coastal regions in the east, less developed regions in Northeast and Central China, and the developing regions in the west. This division has deep historical roots reflecting the geography of each region and their political past and present. Furthermore, regional economic development closely correlates with regional urbanization rates, which closely resembles the borders of the four main economic regions. Private income in different parts of China Breaking the average income figures further down by province, municipality, or autonomous region reveals that the average disposable income in Shanghai or Beijing is on average more than three times higher than in Tibet or Gansu province. In rural areas, average disposable income is often only between one third and one half of that in urban areas of the same region. Accordingly, consumer expenditure per capita in urban areas reaches the highest levels in Shanghai, Beijing, and the coastal regions of China.

Since 2000, the share of people living in extreme poverty in rural China has been constantly decreasing. In February 2021, the Chinese government announced that - based on the current definition of poverty - all residents in China have been relieved from extreme poverty. In the past, extreme poverty had been more common in western and central parts of China, and in these regions the number of poor households is still considerably higher today.

In 2024, the average annual per capita disposable income of rural households in China was approximately 23,119 yuan, roughly 43 percent of the income of urban households. Although living standards in China’s rural areas have improved significantly over the past 20 years, the income gap between rural and urban households is still large. Income increase of China’s households From 2000 to 2020, disposable income per capita in China increased by around 700 percent. The fast-growing economy has inevitably led to the rapid income increase. Furthermore, inflation has been maintained at a lower rate in recent years compared to other countries. While the number of millionaires in China has increased, many of its population are still living in humble conditions. Consequently, the significant wealth gap between China’s rich and poor has become a social problem across the country. However, in recent years rural areas have been catching up and disposable income has been growing faster than in the cities. This development is also reflected in the Gini coefficient for China, which has decreased since 2008. Urbanization in China The urban population in China surpassed its rural population for the first time in 2011. In fact, the share of the population residing in urban areas is continuing to increase. This is not surprising considering remote, rural areas are among the poorest areas in China. Currently, poverty alleviation has been prioritized by the Chinese government. The measures that the government has taken are related to relocation and job placement. With the transformation and expansion of cities to accommodate the influx of city dwellers, neighboring rural areas are required for the development of infrastructure. Accordingly, land acquisition by the government has resulted in monetary gain by some rural households.

This article compares the population agglomeration characteristics of the Xi’an metropolitan area in western China with those of metropolitan areas in other regions officially approved by the Chinese government. The kernel density estimation method and Markov chain model were used to conduct the study. The results revealed that from 2010 to 2020, the population agglomeration level of the Xi’an metropolitan area showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. The absolute gap in the population agglomeration level between cities within the metropolitan area gradually narrowed, and the polarization phenomenon of population agglomeration was not obvious. Compared with metropolitan agglomerations such as Nanjing, Wuhan, Fuzhou, Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan, Chongqing, and Chengdu, the Xi’an metropolitan agglomeration had a lower population agglomeration level, with a significant gap. Moreover, there was an obvious “club convergence” phenomenon in the population agglomeration levels of different urban agglomerations. The probability of the population agglomeration level remaining stable was at least 53.85%, indicating that there was a “Matthew effect” in which the rich become richer and the poor become poorer. Through the convergence models of α and β, the analysis suggested that there was no significant α convergence between the population agglomeration level of the Xi’an metropolitan agglomeration and that of other metropolitan agglomerations. Instead, there was a significant β divergence, indicating that the gap between the Xi’an metropolitan agglomeration’s population agglomeration level and that of other metropolitan agglomerations is gradually widening. An integrated theoretical framework of population agglomeration was constructed from three dimensions: producers, consumers, and social people. An empirical analysis was conducted on the causes of population agglomeration in the Xi’an metropolitan area and other metropolitan areas. The multiple regression results showed that the income level, public consumption expenditure level, education level, comfortable living environment, and educational level were important factors leading to differences in population agglomeration. The geographic detector results showed that factors in the consumer dimension were the main reasons for population agglomeration in metropolitan areas.