GUANGZHOU: Academics have urged South China's Guangdong Province to make special efforts to narrow the income gap between its poor and rich residents.

The plea came after a survey indicated that people in the province are most worried about the unfair distribution of income. Though the situation is not yet alarming, it has worsened with each recent passing year, the director of the Institute of Sociology and Population Research, Zheng Zizhen, said recently.

Of the 2,302 local people's congress deputies polled in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou, 38.2 percent said the unfairness had affected social stability. Only 22.8 percent of the deputies said the existing income distribution was fair.

The survey also showed that social security and safeguarding the legal interests of the disadvantaged were two other major concerns of the local people.

"Administrative powers above the law and lack of enough relevant laws and regulations are the major direct causes of the income gap," Zheng said.

The widening wealth gap and unfair distribution of resources between urban and rural areas have contributed to the divide, too.

(China Daily 01/05/2007 page4)