BEIJING, March 28 (AP) -- China's booming economy boosted salaries in the country's capital last year to an average of 36,097 yuan (US$4,660; €3,490) a year, state media reported Wednesday.

That was an increase of 3,289 yuan (US$425) over 2005, Xinhua News Agency said.

Citing the Municipal Bureau of Statistics, Xinhua said the top wage earners work in the financial and legal industries, and in the oil and natural gas sector, and earn more than 100,000 yuan (US$12,900; €9,665).

The average figure is for urban workers in Beijing -- a district that includes vast areas of farmland as well as the city -- and that the data was collected from state enterprises, joint ventures, collectives and foreign-owned companies.

The lowest wage earners were security guards, who made an average of 9,000 yuan (US$116; €871), Xinhua said.

As China's economy soars, the country has seen a widening wealth gap between cities such as Beijing and Shanghai and the rest of the country.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the national average urban wage was 11,759 yuan (US$1,517; €1,137) in 2006 -- more than triple the average rural wage of 3,587 yuan (US$463; €347).