Abstract: By constructing the index system and taking 1978-2010 as the sample period, this paper employs the principal component analysis method to measure the level of China’s urban-rural gap and conducts an analysis of the trend of changes of the gap. The study results show that since 2005, the urban-rural gap has indeed been gradually narrowing, but the reason lies in the fact that the preferential agricultural policies of the central government have greatly improved the economic conditions in the rural areas. Compared with the trend of the reference variables, there is no evidence that the “Lewis turning point” has arrived.

Key words: labor transfer; gap between urban and rural areas; Lewis turning point