Sub-provincial divisions in the People's Republic of China

This article is part of the series: Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China

Provincial level Provinces (省; shěng) Autonomous regions (自治区; zìzhìqū) Municipalities (直辖市; zhíxiáshì) Special administrative regions (特别行政区; tèbié xíngzhèngqū)

Sub-provincial level Sub-provincial autonomous prefectures (副省级自治州; fùshěngjí zìzhìzhōu) Sub-provincial cities (副省级城市; fùshěngjí chéngshì) Sub-provincial new areas (副省级市辖新区; fùshěngjí shìxiá xīnqū)

Prefectural level Prefectures (地区; dìqū) Autonomous prefectures (自治州; zīzhìzhōu) Prefecture-level cities (地级市; dìjíshì) Leagues (盟; méng)

Sub-prefecture-level Sub-prefectural-level cities (副地级市; fùdìjíshì)

County level Counties (县; xiàn) Autonomous counties (自治县; zìzhìxiàn) County-level cities (县级市; xiànjíshì) City districts (市辖区; shìxiáqū) Ethnic districts Banners (旗; qí) Autonomous banners (自治旗; zìzhìqí) Forestry areas (林区; línqū) Special districts (特区; tèqū)

Township level Townships (乡; xiāng) Ethnic townships (民族乡; mínzúxiāng) Towns (镇; zhèn) Subdistricts (街道办事处; jiēdào bànshìchù) Sumus (苏木; sūmù) Ethnic sumus (民族苏木; mínzúsūmù) District public offices (abolishing) (区公所; qū gōngsuǒ)

Village level Village Committees (村民委员会; cūnmín-wěiyuánhùi) Neighborhood Committees (居民委员会; jūmín-wěiyuánhùi)

History of the political divisions of China

A sub-provincial divisions (simplified Chinese: 副省级行政区; traditional Chinese: 副省級行政區; pinyin: fùshĕngjí chéngshì) (or deputy-provincial divisions) in the People's Republic of China, is like a prefecture-level city that is ruled by a province, but is administered independently in regard to economy and law.

Sub-provincial divisions, similar to prefectural-level divisions, an administrative unit comprising, typically, a main central urban area, and its much larger surrounding rural area containing many smaller cities, towns and villages.

The mayor or chairman of a sub-provincial division is equal in status to a vice-governor of a province. Its status is below that of municipalities, which are independent and equivalent to provinces, but above other, regular prefecture-level divisions, which are completely ruled by their provinces.

Map of sub-provincial level entries in the People's Republic of China

Map of Sub-provincial level entries in the People's Republic of China

Sub-provincial city

The original 15 sub-provincial cities were created on February 25, 1994 by the Central Organization Committee out of prefecture-level cities. They are sometimes the capitals of the provinces in which they are located.

Currently, there are 15 sub-provincial cities:

Sub-provincial cities of the People's Republic of China

Division name	Hanzi (S)	Hanyu Pinyin	Province	Region	Population	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)
Changchun	长春市	Chángchūn	Jilin	Northeast	7,677,089	20,532	368.4
Chengdu	成都市	Chéngdū	Sichuan	Southwest	14,047,625	12,390	1038.4
Dalian	大连市	Dàlián	Liaoning	Northeast	6,690,432	13,237	466.1
Guangzhou	广州市	Guǎngzhōu	Guangdong	South Central	12,700,800	7,434.4	1,390.1
Hangzhou	杭州市	Hángzhōu	Zhejiang	East	8,700,400	16,847	480.8
Harbin	哈尔滨市	Hāěrbīn	Heilongjiang	Northeast	10,635,971	53,791	184.4
Jinan	济南市	Jǐnán	Shandong	East	6,814,000	8,177	737.8
Nanjing	南京市	Nánjīng	Jiangsu	East	8,001,680	6,598	1,169
Ningbo	宁波市	Níngbō	Zhejiang	East	7,605,689	9,365	609.7
Qingdao	青岛市	Qīngdǎo	Shandong	East	8,715,100	10,654	716.1
Shenyang	沈阳市	Shěnyáng	Liaoning	Northeast	8,106,171	12,924	608.2
Shenzhen	深圳市	Shēnzhèn	Guangdong	South Central	10,357,938	2,050	4,347.5
Wuhan	武汉市	Wǔhàn	Hubei	South Central	9,785,392	8,467.11	1,074.7
Xiamen	厦门市	Xiàmén	Fujian	East	3,531,347	1,565	1610.2
Xi'an	西安市	Xī'ān	Shaanxi	Northwest	8,467,837	9,983	844.9

Chongqing was formerly a sub-provincial city of Sichuan until 1997, when it was made a municipality by splitting it out of Sichuan altogether. Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps also has the powers of a sub-provincial city.

Guangzhou, Harbin and Chengdu are the largest sub-provincial cities; each has a population exceeding that of the independent municipality of Tianjin while, both Harbin and Chengdu have a bigger area then Tianjin.

Proposed Sub-provincial cities

• Kunming, Yunnan
• Wenzhou, Zhejiang

Sub-provincial new areas

Additionally, the head of Pudong New Area of Shanghai and Binhai New Area of Tianjin, which is a county-level district, is given sub-provincial powers.

Sub-provincial districts of the People's Republic of China

Division name	Hanzi (S)	Hanyu Pinyin	Municipality	Region	Population	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)
Binhai New Area	滨海新区	Bīnhǎi Xīn Qū	Tianjin	North	2,482,065	2,270	440.5
Pudong New Area	浦东新区	Pǔdōng Xīn Qū	Shanghai	East	5,044,430	1,210.4	2,633.3

Sub-provincial autonomous prefecture

Sub-provincial autonomous prefecture of the People's Republic of China

Division name	Hanzi (S)	Hanyu Pinyin	Province	Region	Population	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture	伊犁哈萨克自治州	Yīlí Hāsàkè Zìzhìzhōu	Xinjiang	Northwest	4,305,119	268,778.71	16.15

Sub-provincial Municipal Conference

The National Standing Committee of Sub-provincial Municipal People's Congresses' Chairmen Joint Conference (全国副省级城市人大常委会主任联席会议) are attended by the chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of all sub-provincial cities. It was proposed by the Guangzhou Municipal People's Congress in 1985. The conferences:

1. Guangzhou (26 February – 4 March 1985)
2. Harbin (27 - 31 August 1985)
3. Wuhan (20 - 24 May 1986)
4. Dalian (10 - 14 August 1987)
5. Xi'an (9 - 13 September 1988)
6. Shenyang (13 - 17 August 1990)
7. Chongqing (22 - 26 November 1991)
8. Qingdao (3 - 7 May 1992)
9. Shenzhen (25 - 28 October 1993)
10. Nanjing (1 - 4 November 1994)
11. Changchun (21- 24 May 1995)
12. Hangzhou (20 - 24 October 1996)
13. Jinan (19 - 25 October 1997)
14. Xiamen (12 - 16 October 1998)
15. Ningbo (17 - 20 October 1999)
16. Chengdu (10 - 13 October 2000)
17. Guangzhou (30 October - 3 November 2001)
18. Harbin (23 - 26 July 2002)
19. Wuhan (8 - 12 October 2003)
20. Shenyang (31 August - 6 September 2004)
21. Qingdao (6 - 8 September 2005)
22. Shenzhen (20 - 23 October 2006)
23. Dalian (14 - 16 August 2007)
24. Xi'an (13 - 16 April 2009)
25. Nanjing (18 - 20 October 2010)
26. Changchun (22 - 25 August 2011)