List of capitals in China

The scope of this list is limited to capital cities of first-level administrative divisions such as provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, and special administrative regions also including sub-provincial cities which are governed by province but administered independently in many ways from a province.

Province capitals

Note: PRC claimed Taiwan and its capital in Taipei as one of its province which it does not control.

Jurisdiction	Capital	Chinese	Capital since	Land area (km²)	Population (2010)	Symbol	Seat	Most populous prefecture?
Anhui	Hefei	合肥市	1946	11,323	5,702,000	合	Shushan	Yes
Fujian	Fuzhou	福州市	1278	12,177	7,115,370	榕	Gulou	No
Gansu	Lanzhou	兰州市	1667	13,300	3,616,163	兰	Chengguan	Yes
Guangdong	Guangzhou	广州市	1369	7,434	12,700,800	穗	Yuexiu	Yes
Guizhou	Guiyang	贵阳市	1413	8,034	4,324,561	筑	Guanshanhu	No
Hainan	Haikou	海口市	1950	2,237	2,046,189	海	Xiuying	Yes
Hebei	Shijiazhuang	石家庄市	1968	15,722	10,163,788	石	Chang'an	No
Heilongjiang	Harbin	哈尔滨市	1949	53,100	10,635,971	哈	Songbei	Yes
Henan	Zhengzhou	郑州市	1954	7,507	8,626,505	郑	Zhongyuan	No
Hubei	Wuhan	武汉市	1927	8,494	9,785,392	汉	Jiang'an	Yes
Hunan	Changsha	长沙市	1664	11,819	7,044,118	长	Yuelu	No
Jiangsu	Nanjing	南京市	1952	6,598	8,004,680	宁	Xuanwu	No
Jiangxi	Nanchang	南昌市	1277	7,372	5,042,565	昌	Donghu	No
Jilin	Changchun	长春市	1954	20,532	7,677,089	春	Nanguan	Yes
Liaoning	Shenyang	沈阳市	1662	12,942	8,106,171	沈	Hunnan	Yes
Qinghai	Xining	西宁市	1928	7,372	2,208,708	西	Chengzhong	Yes
Shaanxi	Xi'an	西安市	1286	9,983	8,467,837	镐	Weiyang	Yes
Shandong	Jinan	济南市	1377	8,177	6,814,000	泉	Shizhong	No
Shanxi	Taiyuan	太原市	1369	6,959	4,201,591	并	Xinghualing	Yes
Sichuan	Chengdu	成都市	1286	12,132	14,047,625	蓉	Wuhou	Yes
Yunnan	Kunming	昆明市	1275	21,473	6,432,000	昆	Chenggong	Yes
Zhejiang	Hangzhou	杭州市	1367	16,847	8,700,400	杭	Gongshu	No

Claimed Province

Jurisdiction	Capital	Chinese	Capital since	Land area (km²)	Population (2010)	Symbol	Seat	Most populous prefecture?	Map
Taiwan	Taipei	台北市	1887	—	—	北	—	—

Autonomous regions capitals

Jurisdiction	Capital	Chinese	Capital since	Land area (km²)	Population (2010)	Symbol	Seat	Most populous prefecture?
Guangxi	Nanning	南宁市	1912	22,189	6,661,600	邕	Qingxiu	Yes
Inner Mongolia	Hohhot	呼和浩特市	1952	17,224	2,866,615	呼	Xincheng	No
Ningxia	Yinchuan	银川市	1928	4,467	1,993,088	银	Jinfeng	Yes
Tibet	Lhasa	拉萨市	1642	29,274	559,423	萨	Chengguan	No
Xinjiang	Ürümqi	乌鲁木齐市	1884	14,577	3,110,280	乌	Tianshan	No

Other cities

Municipalities

Jurisdiction	City	Chinese	Designation	Land area (km²)	Population (2010)	Symbol	Seat
Beijing	Beijing	北京市	1927	16,801	19,612,368	京	Dongcheng & Tongzhou
Chongqing	Chongqing	重庆市	1927	82,401	28,846,170	渝	Yuzhong
Shanghai	Shanghai	上海市	1927	6,340	23,019,148	沪	Huangpu
Tianjin	Tianjin	天津市	1927	11,760	12,938,224	津	Hexi

Special administrative regions

Jurisdiction	City	Chinese	Designation	Land area (km²)	Population (2010)	Symbol	Seat	Map
Hong Kong	Hong Kong	香港特别行政区	1997	1,104	7,061,200	港	Central & Western
Macau	Macau	澳门特别行政区	1999	29	552,300	澳	São Lourenço

Sub-provincial cities that are not themselves provincial capital

Sub-provincial cities have status that 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. However, they are marked as same as other provincial capitals (or prefecture-level city if not provincial capital) in almost all maps.

Also, the provincial capitals of these provinces listed below(Guangzhou, Shenyang, Jinan, Hangzhou) are themselves sub-provincial cities (even before 1997 when Chongqing is a sub-provincial city of Sichuan province, since Chengdu is sub-provincial) except Fuzhou, Fujian.

Jurisdiction	City	Chinese	Designation	Land area (km²)	Population (2010)	Symbol	Seat
Fujian	Xiamen	厦门市	1988	1,699	3,531,347	鹭	Siming
Guangdong	Shenzhen	深圳市	1988	2,050	10,357,938	深	Futian
Liaoning	Dalian	大连市	1984	13,237	6,690,432	连	Xigang
Shandong	Qingdao	青岛市	1986	11,026	8,715,100	胶	Shinan
Zhejiang	Ningbo	宁波市	1987	9,816	7,605,700	甬	Jiangdong