[zjaffee]

This number is both old and in nominal terms. A person making 50k USD in China is likely richer than a person in the US making 100k USD in the US.

http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/771271476908686029/Segal.pdf suggests that the number to be in the global 1% is around $50,000 PPP per person in a given household.

[mensetmanusman]

Except that the Chinese person is a prisoner in their own country, and the American could move to China to have a higher quality of life outside of the polluted cities.