As a result of the sluggish growth in the income of farmers, the income gap between urban and rural residents has expanded over the last 20 years. The urban-rural per capita income ratio was on the order of 1.7 to 1 in 1985 and widened to 3.1 to 1 in 2002. If the various subsidies and benefits enjoyed by urban residents were taken into account, the actual income gap between urban and rural people would rise to 6 to 1.

As a general rule, when a country's per capita gross national product (GNP) reaches between US$800 and US$1,000, the per capita income of urban residents is approximately 1.7 times that of rural residents. But judging from media reports, it is obvious that urban-rural income disparity in China is far greater than the disparity in other countries. In fact, China's urban-rural income gap is among the widest in the world.

Given the geographical disadvantage of rural areas and the relatively low education level of the population there, a certain degree of income disparity between urban and rural populations is inevitable and can be held as reasonable. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that a 6-to-1 income ratio between urban and rural residents is by no means normal.

The separate management of urban and rural areas is still present in our society, the dual structure in the urban and rural economy has not yet been reformed, discriminatory policies are still too frequently found, and rural residents do not have the same access to development opportunities as urban residents.

It is precisely because of these unfair or unreasonable policies and practices that the income gap between rural and urban residents has grown beyond a reasonable level. Equal opportunities do not necessarily produce equal outcomes, but highly unequal outcomes are usually due to unequal opportunities at the start.

One classic example is the gap between urban and rural education. In 2002, China invested more than 580 billion yuan (US$70 billion) in education, of which 77 per cent was spent in urban areas inhabited by less than 40 per cent of the total population. The 60 per cent-plus rural population only got 23 per cent of the total education expenditure. This further intensified the marked differences between urban and rural education, contributing to strong socio-economic stratification and large rural-urban divides.

Moreover, the taxes and fees in rural areas haven't been substantially cut, and rural residents have no access to state welfare such as medical care. As a result, the already-disadvantaged farmers are further disadvantaged and alienated from the society.

Farmers constitute 64 per cent of China's total population. If they are not given fair treatment and equal opportunities to take themselves out of disadvantageous positions, then the fundamental justice of the whole society is undermined, and economic and social development suffers. The urban-rural income gap is an issue of social justice. Without a solution to this problem, there can be no true solution to the problem of justice in our society. That is why we can no longer afford to be oblivious to the dire consequences of the excessively wide urban-rural income gap.

The serious problems highlighted by the 6-to-1 urban-rural income ratio should be drawn to the attention of the government and the public. What is more noteworthy and important is how to redress the damage caused by improper policies and practices of the past decades, and to narrow the standard-of-living gap between urban and rural residents to a reasonable and acceptable extent.