Beijing will release its own Gini coefficient for 2012, Xing Zhihong, the spokesman with the Beijing survey branch of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Sunday.

The Gini coefficient, or Gini index, is used to measure income inequality, with a figure of zero representing a completely even distribution of wealth, and a figure of one representing all wealth concentrated in one individual's hands.

Xing said the country's statistics officials used to publish two indices - the per capita disposable income of urban residents and the per capita net income of rural residents - to reflect income distribution.

"However, we will act according to the schedule of relevant departments and carry out unified investigations into the income of both urban and rural residents, and publish the Gini figures in a timely manner," Xing said at a press conference.

Beijing is the first city in the country to announce it will be publicly releasing a Gini coefficient.

According to the original indices, in 2012, the average per capita disposable income of urban residents in the city was 36,469 yuan ($5,868), more than twice the average per capita net income of rural residents, which was 16,476 yuan.

On Friday, the NBS resumed releasing annual Gini coefficient figures after a recess of over 13 years, saying it had reached 0.474, higher than the warning level of 0.4 outlined by the United Nations.

According to NBS calculations, the index has retreated gradually since peaking at 0.491 in 2008, dropping to 0.49 in 2009, 0.481 in 2010 and 0.477 in 2011.

It was 0.412 when the NBS last released the index in 2010.

"The statistics highlight the urgent need for our country to speed up income distribution reforms to narrow the gap," Ma Jiantang, director of the NBS said on Friday.

Global Times - Xinhua