China has about 2.4 million households that are classified as millionaires. That makes the Asian giant the most millionaires, except for the U.S.

However, while wealth is expanding as China moves away from socialism to a market-oriented economy, the country's wealth gap is also growing wider at a faster rate despite the growth in per capita income and decline in the number of Chinese living at less than $1.25 a day, according to a working paper by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

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Serhan Cevik and Carolina Correa-Caro, authors of the IMF paper, said the widening income gap reflects the faster income growth among Chinese who are already wealthy and the living standards of the poor that have stagnated, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The two specifically pinpointed credit-fueled investment and export-led development model and the main drivers of sharp boost in income inequality over the last 30 years.

While many Chinese have moved out of poverty because of Beijing's economic strategy that targets higher growth rates, the authors warned that the worsening income inequality could impact future growth negatively. It would also likely result in significant social consequences as more Chinese target to go beyond middle-income status.

To address these issues, Cevik and Correa-Caro recommended high taxes on high earners to achieve redistribution of income, widening the personal tax and charging value added tax on services. They also suggested lower labor taxes that affect low- and middle-income earners.

Meanwhile, another report from ganji.com identified the top 10 best-paying professions for blue-collar Chinese women. These are in massage, maternity care, manicure, skin care, sales, baby-sitting, tour guide, wedding planner and publishing.

The average monthly income of a masseuse is 6,214 yuan, which compared with the average income of white-collar workers of 5,453 yuan, reports USA.Chinadaily.com.

TagsChina income inequality, chinese millionaire