List of Tables and figures; Contributors; Acknowledgements; 1. Inequality and public policy in China: issues and trends Bjorn Gustafsson, Li Shi, and Terry Sicular; 2. Income inequality and spatial differences in China, 1988, 1995, and 2002 Bjorn Gustafsson, Li Shi, Terry Sicular, and Yue Ximing; 3. Growth and distribution of household income in China between 1995 and 2002 Azizur Rahman Khan and Carl Riskin; 4. Explaining incomes and inequality in China Yue Ximing, Terry Sicular, Li Shi, and Bjorn Gustafsson; 5. The distribution of wealth in China Zhao Renwei and Ding Sai; 6. Growth, inequality, and poverty: a comparative study of China's experience in the periods before and after the Asian crisis Azizur Rahman Khan; 7. What has economic transition meant for the well-being of the elderly in China? Edward Palmer and Deng Quheng; 8. Inequality in financing China's health care Wei Zhong and Bjorn Gustafsson; 9. China's emerging urban wage structure, 1995?2002 John Knight and Lina Song; 10. Unemployment, earlier retirement and changes in the gender income gap in urban China, 1995?2002 Li Shi and Bjorn Gustafsson; 11. What determines living arrangements of the elderly in urban China? Meng Xin and Luo Chuliang; 12. The impact of village-specific factors on household income in rural China Hiroshi Sato; 13. The redistributive impact of taxation in rural China, 1995?2002: an evaluation of rural taxation reform at the turn of the century Hiroshi Sato, Li Shi, and Yue Ximing; Appendix: the 1995 and 2002 household surveys: sampling methods and data description Li Shi, Luo Chuliang, Wei Zhong, and Yue Ximing; Index.