Shanghai and Beijing saw per-capita disposable income cross 40,000 yuan ($5,700) in the first three quarters, according to data released by National Bureau of Statistics recently.

Data from the NBS show that in the first nine months of this year, the national per-capita disposable income of residents was 21,035 yuan, a nominal growth of 8.8 percent over last year, or an actual increase of 6.6 percent after deducting price factors.

Shanghai residents saw the highest disposable income at 48,339 yuan, followed by Beijing at 46,426 yuan and East China's Zhejiang province at 35,349 yuan.

Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and other six provinces, which are mostly located in the eastern part of the country, outperformed the nation's average disposable income level.

In the first three quarters, Chinese residents' per capita consumption expenditure showed a nominal increase of 8.5 percent or an actual increase of 6.3 percent year-on-year at 14,281 yuan.

Shanghai, with the highest disposable income, spent most. The per-capita consumption expenditure hit 31,909 yuan, the only one over 30,000 yuan in the country.

Consumption accounts for 78 percent of the country's GDP growth during the first nine months, an increase of 14 percentage points than the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The consumption expenditure of rural residents grew faster than that of urban residents, or 12 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, NBS released.

"The consumption structure is ever improving, as spending on personal development grows faster than expenditure on basic living, and residents' service consumption expenditure continues to grow rapidly," said Wang Youjuan, head of household survey office of NBS.