China has 2.7 million U.S.-dollar millionaires and 251 billionaires, according to "The Hurun Report," a financial publication. But the UN states that 13 percent of the country's 1.3 billion people live on less than $1.25 per day. The Chinese government has pledged to double household incomes over the next decade in a bid to close the country's wealth gap. which is now so wide that it threatens social stability.
China's Wide And Growing Wealth Gap
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A combination photograph shows families having dinner at a restaurant in a residential area for migrant workers in Beijing, and men drinking coffee at a restaurant in a five-star hotel.
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A farm worker takes a nap in a field in Hebei Province, near Beijing, while a woman receives a massage at a Beijing spa. China has witnessed a growing disparity between the prosperous cities and the impoverished countryside since the early 1990s, while lower-income city residents have been left out of a property boom that has enriched many.
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A girl washes her hair at a residential area for migrant workers in Beijing. On the right, French hair dresser Eric Constantino washing his staff's hair during a demonstration at his shop Eric Paris, one of Beijing's most luxurious beauty salons.
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People in rain gear ride bicycles and motorbikes. On the right, a Porsche in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Beijing. China has become a crucial market for makers of luxury cars, and is set to overtake the United States as the world leader in this business segment.
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A vendor sells wooden baskets and brooms in a crumbling residential area of Beijing where new skyscrapers will be built. On the right, a supermarket sells plastic goods near a newly built residential complex in the Chinese capital.
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People gamble under streetlights in an alley of a neighborhood housing migrant workers in Beijing, while guests drink champagne before a fashion show at the Ming Dynasty City Wall Relics Park.
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A female farmer's bare foot is covered with mud in Langfang, Hebei Province, about 80 kilometers from Beijing. At a fashion show in Beijing, celebrity invitees pose to have their pictures taken.
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Cheap clothes on display in a neighborhood housing migrant workers. At a shopping mall selling luxury foreign goods, a clerk puts shoes on a mannequin.
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Residents of a migrant workers' quarter in Beijing watch a travelling circus. On the right, attendees wait for a fashion show at the Ming Dynasty City Wall Relics Park in Beijing.
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A man sits in a wheelchair in front of his house in Beijing, while a resident of the Beijing First Social Welfare Institution poses in her bedroom. The institution offers a prestigious level of care for some 1,000 seniors. China's elderly population will hit 360 million by 2030, from about 200 million in 2013.
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A shopping street in a migrant workers' neighborhood in Beijing, and a luxury-brand store at a shopping complex in Sanlitun, known as center for high-end shopping.
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A cook makes noodles at a street stall in a crumbling neighborhood, while a chef cooks a meal inside a shopping mall in a wealthy district of Beijing.
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Men eat their lunch on the street, while people dine at an upscale restaurant in Beijing. For diners eating street food, a full meal costs about $1.60. At the restaurant on the right, a main course of shark fin or abalone costs $60-80.
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A boy waits for his parents to return from work, while another child plays in a sea of balls at a playground in a wealthy district.