I have three plausible explanations, and most likely it is a combination of all three, although in economic logic things do not add up. The first reason is that Beijing did not know that the incomes of poor peasants and low-level workers have been sharply rising since 2000, at rates which in my view are unmatched in history. However, workers earning less than RMB 1,600 per month do not have to report tax, and floating workers simply do not report, so their incomes are difficult to assess. More important is the fact that registered population in the villages remains large, although many people have floated away. If one divides the observed total income of peasant households with the registered population, an artificially low per-capita income is obtained.

　　我有三个可能的解释，最可能是三者的合并，虽然经济逻辑加不起来。其一是北京不知道自二○○○年开始，中国的贫苦农民的收入出现了史无前例的迅速增长。不容易知道。月入人民币一千六百以下的不用报税，流动的劳工一般不报，这些人的收入不易估计。更重要是农村的户籍人口依然多，虽然不少流动去了。如果以农户的总收入除以户籍人口，一个不实的低数字会出现。