The problem with GDP per capita is that it doesn't necessarily correlate with wages (which is what we're talking about with middle income trap). You can look a

The problem with GDP per capita is that it doesn't necessarily correlate with wages (which is what we're talking about with middle income trap). You can look at Singapore or Ireland for another example. They have higher GDP per capita than the US, but a lot of it's due to multi-nationals storing IP in those countries, and funneling cash through for tax purposes. It's not GDP that gets converted to local wages. And in the case of certain Chinese regions, if you have companies headquartered there (with multiple sites at satellite cities), GDP measures are going to assign national GDP to that one region, so again, it doesn't necessarily reflect local wages.