Country's wealth divide past warning level, analysts say

BEIJING - The Gini coefficient - a commonly used measure of inequality of wealth - has reached 0.47 in China, overtaking the recognized warning level of 0.4, government-affiliated experts have said.

"The Gini coefficient in China has been continuously rising after it reached the alarming 0.4-level 10 years ago," Chang Xiuze, a researcher with the academy of microeconomic research under the National Development and Reform Commission, was quoted as saying in the Economic Information Daily on Monday.

The brainchild of Italian statistician Corrado Gini, the Gini coefficient, which is a measure of statistical dispersion, is commonly used as a measure of inequality of income or wealth.