Li means the "disposable income", foreign media just twisted his words. and that is years ago when Yuan was very weak against Dollars. Now Yuan is very strong. as for how much average Chinese make, check out this young village primary school teacher, this job generally being considered a low paying job in China which no one wants to take. it had been improved lately.
Young Chinese village school teacher jumps around with joy after receiving government pay raise
Young Chinese village school teacher jumps around with joy after receiving government pay raise. China greatly improved rural school teachers' pay and benefits to enhance rural education. This young rural school teacher jumped around with joy after receiving over 10,000¥ ($1,574)monthly salary via her cellphone.