This paper employs time series techniques, with or without a structural break, to investigate the question of China's regional per capita income convergence. Our results suggest that China's regions, especially the eastern and the western regions, have converged to their own specific steady states over the past 40 years. The Gini coefficient, the ratio of per capita income between regions, and the coefficient of variation confirm our findings. We also identify the big shocks on the relative regional per capita income by allowing a time break. D 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.