In the first half of the year, regional per-capita net income from private business operations jumped 45.4% year-on-year to 541 yuan (US$66.79) or 6.2% of total income, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said in a report. This compares with 738 yuan or 5.1% of total earnings for all of last year and 564 yuan and 4.5% for 2003.

City dwellers in Zhejiang out-performed those in Shanghai and Jiangsu with per-capita business income of 934 yuan in 2004. Investment return, including earnings from securities and property sales and rentals, also jumped, rising nearly 50% in 2004 from the previous year to 334 yuan per person.

Salary income is still the main source of income, accounting for 66% of the total. Urban wage income averaged 9,469 yuan per person in the region in 2004, up 13.9% from 2003.

- Xiao Fu / Shanghai Daily