Widening provincial disparities have accompanied the rapid economic growth in China. This paper analyses the evolution of China's provincial GDP per capita disparity between 1952 and 1998. First, a brief literature review is presented. Then, an examination of some basic indicators of disparity is carried out, and a test for unconventional convergence is performed to explore the dispersion features. Subsequently, a more comprehensive regression analysis, allowing insights into the evidence of unconditional convergence and highlighting the main determinants of growth in two main periods of recent history of China (i.e., pre-reform an post-reform) is presented. Finally a discussion and conclusion are provided.