Chinese middle-income earners make up 37.4 percent of the country's population, according to an expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on Dec 21.

The incomes of urban and rural residents are on the rise, according to Chen Guangjin, head of the Institute of Sociology at CASS. Chen noted that per capita disposable income increased by 6.3 percent year on year in the January-September period, with respective rises of 5.7 and 6.5 percent in urban and rural areas.

From January to September, the average per capita disposable income in urban areas was 2.82 times that in rural areas, 1 percent lower than in the same period last year. Chen also pointed out that the Gini coefficient, a widely used indicator of economic inequality, has slipped a little bit compared with previous years' data.