China's urban-rural income gap is expected to widen this year to a level where an urban resident will earn 3.3 times a farmer's income, according to research by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

Last year, the ratio was 3.28, up from 3.22 in 2005, according to the CASS Green Book on China's Rural Economy, which was released yesterday.

Last year saw China's farmers earn 3,587 yuan ($464.6) on average, up by 7.4 percent after taking into account the inflation factor. It was the first year since 1997 that the real growth rate of farmers' income exceeded 7 percent.

Meanwhile, the urban resident earned 11,759 yuan ($1,523), up by 10.4 percent, 3 percentage points higher than farmers' income growth.

Source: China Daily