BEIJING - The Gini coefficient, an index reflecting the rich-poor gap, reached 0.474 in China in 2012, a top statistician said Friday.

It was higher than the warning level of 0.4 set by the United Nations.

The index has been retreating gradually since hitting 0.491 in 2008, dropping to 0.49 in 2009, 0.481 in 2010 and 0.477 in 2011, Ma Jiantang, director of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), told a press conference.

The index reached 0.479 in 2003, 0.473 in 2004, 0.485 in 2005, 0.487 in 2006 and 0.484 in 2007, Ma said, citing the calculations made by the NBS.

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