Urban Chinese income jumped 70 times in the past 35 years. Average disposable income in Chinese cities reached an average of about 25 thousand yuan, or about 4 thousand U.S dollars in 2012. That means annual growth of 13.4 percent. If we take out inflation, it's 7.4 percent.

Residents in Shanghai top the rich list, having earned over 40 thousand yuan in disposable income last year. This is more than 60 percent higher than the national average. Beijingers rank second, with 36 thousand yuan in their pockets. Zhejiang Province in east China comes in third. Eight cities and provinces out of a total 31 monitored regions are above the national average level, mostly along the east coast.

But average disposable income in rural areas is just below 8 thousand yuan, a third of their urban peers. Rural income growth rate is a little less than 13 percent per year, also lagging behind the urban areas.