China's national per capita disposal income in 1949 was only 49.7 yuan (about $7). In 2018, that figure reached 28,228 yuan (about $3,998), increasing by 566.6 times in nominal terms, with an inflation-adjusted growth rate of 59.2 times, achieving an annual growth rate of 6.1 percent.

From the founding of the People's Republic of China to the dawn of its reform and opening-up, the majority of employed urban residents worked at state-owned companies and collective enterprises, and their sole source of income came from salaries. After reform and opening-up, the means of income diversified due to the boom of the non-public economy, the expansion of investment channels and the improvement of social security.