Administrative divisions of China

Last updated

The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times, due to China's large population and geographical area. The constitution of China provides for three levels of government. However in practice, there are five levels of local government; the provincial (province, autonomous region, municipality, and special administrative region), prefecture, county, township, and village.

Since the 17th century, provincial boundaries in China have remained largely static. Major changes since then have been the reorganisation of provinces in the northeast after the establishment of the People's Republic of China and the formation of autonomous regions, based on Soviet ethnic policies. The provinces serve an important cultural role in China, as people tend to identify with their native province.

Levels

The Constitution of the People's Republic of China provides for three levels: the provincial, the county level, and the township level. However, in practice, there are four levels of government: the provincial, the prefectural level, the county level, and the township level. Rural villages and urban communities are sometimes considered as the fifth level, however they are by constitution “basic level autonomies” and there is no government on this level. As of 2017, China administers 33 provincial-level regions, 334 prefecture-level divisions, 2,862 county-level divisions, 41,034 township-level administrations, and 704,382 basic level autonomies. [1]

Each of the levels (except "special administrative regions") corresponds to a level in the Civil Service of the People's Republic of China.

Summary

This table summarizes the divisions of the area administered by the People's Republic of China as of June 2017.

LevelNameTypes
1 Provincial level (1st)
(33)
(1 claimed)
2 Prefectural level (2nd)
(333)
(6 claimed)
3 County level (3rd)
(2,850)
(173 claimed)
  • 1 Special district (特区; tèqū)
  • 1 Forestry district (林区; línqū)
4 Township level (4th)
(39,863)
(214 claimed)
Subdistrict offices [2] [3] (26 claimed)
District public offices (区公所; qūgōngsuǒ)
5 Basic level autonomy (5th)
(662,393)
(7,761 claimed)
  • 104,083 Residential Committees (居民委员会; Jūmín wěiyuánhuì) (5,876 claimed)
Communities (社区 / 社; shèqū / shè)
  • 558,310 Village Committees (村民委员会; cūnmínwěiyuánhuì) (1,885 claimed)
Village/Administrative Villages (行政村; xíngzhèngcūn)
Gaqa (嘎查; gāchá)

Table

Structural hierarchy of the administrative divisions and basic level autonomies of the People's Republic of China
Provincial level (1st) [4]   Prefectural level (2nd)   County level (3rd)   Township level (4th)   Basic level autonomy (5th)  
Autonomous region Sub-provincial-level autonomous prefecture District
County-level city
County
Autonomous county
Banner
Autonomous banners 		Subdistrict
Town
Township
Ethnic township
County-controlled districts
Sum
Ethnic sum 		Community (社区 / 社)
(Residential committees; 居民委员会)
Village / Gaqa (嘎查)
(Villager committees; 村民委员会)
Prefectural-level city
Autonomous prefecture
Prefecture
Leagues
Province
Sub-provincial-level city District
Special district
County-level city
County
Autonomous county
Prefectural-level city
Autonomous prefecture
Prefecture
Sub-prefectural-level city
Forestry district (林区)
Municipality Sub-provincial-level new area
District
County
Special administrative region
(Part of the One country, two systems)		see Region (informal)see District
see Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau
see Municipality (informal)		see Freguesia (informal)

Provincial level (1st)

The People's Republic of China (PRC) lays claims to 34 province-level divisions, including 22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, and 2 special administrative regions and 1 claimed province.

Provinces are theoretically subservient to the PRC central government, but in practice, provincial officials have large discretion with regard to economic policy. Unlike the United States, the power of the central government was (with the exception of the military) not exercised through a parallel set of institutions until the early 1990s. The actual practical power of the provinces has created what some economists call "federalism with Chinese characteristics".

Most of the provinces, with the exception of those in the northeast, have boundaries which were established long ago in the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Sometimes provincial borders form cultural or geographical boundaries. This was an attempt by the imperial government to discourage separatism and warlordism through a divide and rule policy. Nevertheless, provinces have come to serve an important cultural role in China. People tend to be identified in terms of their native provinces, and each province has a stereotype that corresponds to their inhabitants.

The most recent administrative change have included the elevation of Hainan (1988) and Chongqing (1997) to provincial level status, and the creation of Hong Kong (1997) and Macau (1999) as Special administrative regions.

Provincial level governments vary in details of organization:

Provincial-level (1st) subdivisions

22  Provinces : A standard provincial government is nominally led by a provincial committee, headed by a secretary. The committee secretary is first-in-charge of the province, come in second is the governor of the provincial government.
5  Autonomous regions : A minority subject which has a higher population of a particular minority ethnic group along with its own local government, but an autonomous region theoretically has more legislative rights than in actual practice. The governor of the Autonomous Regions is usually appointed from the respective minority ethnic group.
4  Municipalities : A higher level of city that is directly under the Chinese government, with status equal to that of the provinces. In practice, their political status is higher than that of common provinces.
2  Special administrative regions : A highly autonomous and self-governing subnational subject of the People's Republic of China. Each SAR has a chief executive as head of the region and head of government. The SAR's government is not fully independent, as foreign policy and military defence are the responsibility of the central government, according to the Basic Laws of the two SARs. [5] [6] [7]
1  Claimed province : The People's Republic of China claims the island of Taiwan and its surrounding islets, including Penghu, as Taiwan Province. (Kinmen and the Matsu Islands are claimed by the PRC as part of its Fujian Province. Pratas and Itu Aba are claimed by the PRC as part of Guangdong and Hainan provinces respectively.) The territory is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC, commonly called "Taiwan").
Click any region for more info. For a larger version of this map, see here.
China administrative.gifXinjiang Uyghur Autonomous RegionNingxia Hui Autonomous RegionInner Mongolia Autonomous RegionChongqing MunicipalityGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous RegionBeijing MunicipalityTianjin MunicipalityShanghai MunicipalityHong Kong Special Administrative RegionMacau Special Administrative RegionTaiwan

Prefectural level (2nd)

Map of China's prefectural level divisions China prefectural-level divisions and administrative divisions (PRoC claim).png
Map of China's prefectural level divisions

Prefectural level divisions or second-level divisions are the second level of the administrative structure. Most provinces are divided into only prefecture-level cities and contain no other second level administrative units. Of the 22 provinces and 5 autonomous regions, only 3 provinces (Yunnan, Guizhou, Qinghai) and 1 autonomous region (Xinjiang) have more than three second-level or prefectural-level divisions that are not prefecture-level cities. As of June 2020, there were 339 prefectural level divisions:

7  Prefectures : formerly the dominant second level division, thus this administrative level is often called "prefectural level". They were mostly replaced by prefecture-level cities from 1983 to the 1990s. Today, prefectures exist only in Heilongjiang, Tibet and Xinjiang.
30  Autonomous prefectures : prefectures with one or more designated ethnic minorities, mostly in China's western regions.
299  prefecture-level cities : the largest number of prefectural-level divisions, generally composed of an urban center and surrounding rural areas much larger than the urban core and thus not "cities" but municipalities in the strict sense of the term
3  Leagues : effectively the same as prefectures, but found only in Inner Mongolia. Like prefectures, leagues have mostly been replaced with prefecture-level cities. The unique name is a holdover from earlier forms of administration in Mongolia.

County level (3rd)

Map of China's county-level divisions China county-level divisions and administrative divisions (PRoC claim).png
Map of China's county-level divisions

As of August 18, 2015, there were 2,852 county-level divisions:

1,408  Counties : the most common county-level divisions, continuously in existence since the Warring States period, much earlier than any other level of government in China. Xian is often translated as "district" or "prefecture".
117  Autonomous counties : counties with one or more designated ethnic minorities, analogous to autonomous regions and prefectures
360  County-level cities : similar to prefecture-level cities, covering both urban and rural areas. It was popular for counties to become county-level cities in the 1990s, though this has since been halted.
913  Districts : formerly the subdivisions of urban areas, consisting of built-up areas only. Recently many counties have become districts, so that districts are now often just like counties, with towns, villages, and farmland.
49  Banners : the same as counties except in the name, a holdover from earlier forms of administration in Mongolia
3  Autonomous banners : the same as autonomous counties except in the name, a holdover from earlier forms of administration in Mongolia
1 Forestry area (Chinese :林区; pinyin :línqū): a special county-level forestry district located in Hubei province
1 Special district (Chinese :特区; pinyin :tèqū): a special county-level division located in Guizhou province

Township level (4th)

Township-level (4th) subdivisions

13,749 Townships : in smaller rural areas division they are divided into this subject
1,098 Ethnic townships : small rural areas divisions designated for one or more ethnic minorities are divided into this subject
19,322 Towns : in larger rural areas division they are divided into this subject
6,686 Subdistricts : in a small urban areas division they are divided into this subject
2 County-controlled districts are a vestigial level of government. These once represented an extra level of government between the county- and township levels. Today there are very few of these remaining and they are gradually being phased out.
181 Sums are the same as townships, but are unique to Inner Mongolia.
The 1 Ethnic sum is the same as an ethnic township, but is unique to Inner Mongolia.

Basic level autonomy (5th)

The basic level autonomy serves as an organizational division (census, mail system) and does not have much importance in political representative power. Basic local divisions like neighborhoods and communities are not informal like in America, but have defined boundaries and elected heads (one per area):

In urban areas, every subdistrict of a district of a city administers many communities or residential committees. Each of them has a residential committee to administer the dwellers of that neighborhood or community. Rural areas are organized into village committees or villager groups. A "village" in this case can either be a natural village, one that spontaneously and naturally exists, or a virtual village, which is a bureaucratic entity.

Village-level (5th) subdivisions

80,717 Residential committees (居民委员会; jūmínwěiyuánhuì)
Residential groups (居民小组; jūmínxiǎozǔ)
  Communities (社区 / 社; shèqū / shè)
623,669 Village committees (村民委员会; cūnmínwěiyuánhuì)
Village groups (村民小组; cūnmínxiǎozǔ)
  Administrative Villages / Villages (行政村 / 村; xíngzhèngcūn / cūn)
  Gaqa (嘎查; gāchá)
  Ranch (牧委会; mùwěihuì)

Special cases

Five cities formally on prefectural level have a special status in regard to planning and budget. They are separately listed in the five-year and annual state plans on the same level as provinces and national ministries, making them economically independent of their provincial government. These cities specifically designated in the state plan (Chinese:计划单列市) are

In terms of budget authority, their governments have the de facto status of a province, but their legislative organs (National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) and other authorities not related to the economy are on the level of a prefecture and under the leadership of the province. [8]

Some other large prefecture-level cities, known as sub-provincial cities, are half a level below a province. The mayors of these cities have the same rank as a vice governor of a province, and their district governments are half a rank higher than those of normal districts. The capitals of some provinces (seat of provincial government) are sub-provincial cities. In addition to the five cities specifically designated in the state plan, sub-provincial cities are:[ citation needed ]

A similar case exists with some county-level cities. Some county-level cities are given more autonomy. These cities are known as sub-prefecture-level cities, meaning that they are given a level of power higher than a county, but still lower than a prefecture. Such cities are also half a level higher than what they would normally be. Sub-prefecture-level cities are often not put into any prefecture (i.e. they are directly administered by their province). Examples of sub-prefecture-level cities include Jiyuan (Henan province), Xiantao, Qianjiang and Tianmen (Hubei), Golmud (Qinghai), Manzhouli (Inner Mongolia), Shihanza, Tumushuk, Aral, and Wujiaqu (Xinjiang).

Some districts are also placed at half a level higher that what it should be. Examples are Pudong, Shanghai and Binhai, Tianjin. Although its status as a district of a municipality would define it as prefecture-level, the district head of Pudong is given sub-provincial powers. In other words, it is half a level higher than what it would normally be.


Special cases subdivisions

1  Sub-provincial autonomous prefecture
15  Sub-provincial cities
2  Sub-provincial new areas
8  Sub-prefecture-level cities

Ambiguity of the word "city" in China

The Chinese word "市" (shì) is usually loosely translated into English as "city". However, it has several different meanings due to the complexity of the administrative divisions used in China. Despite being urban or having urban centers, the SARs are almost never referred to as "Hong Kong City"/"Macau City" in contemporary Chinese and thus are not covered by the description below.

By its political level, when a "city" is referred to, it can be a:

By its actual area and population, it can be:

When used in the statistical data, the word "city" may have three different meanings:

The choice of definition of "city" used for statistical data of Chinese cities can lead to different results. For example, Shanghai is the largest city in China by population in the urban area but is smaller than Chongqing by the population within the administration area. [9]

History

Qing China in 1820, with provinces in yellow, military governorates and protectorates in light yellow, tributary states in orange Qing Dynasty 1820.png
Qing China in 1820, with provinces in yellow, military governorates and protectorates in light yellow, tributary states in orange

Before the establishment of the Qin dynasty, China was ruled by a network of kings, nobles, and tribes. The rivalry of these groups culminated in the Warring States period, and the state of Qin eventually emerged dominant.

The Qin dynasty was determined not to allow China to fall back into disunity, and therefore designed the first hierarchical administrative divisions in China, based on two levels: jùn commanderies and xiàn counties. The Han dynasty that came immediately after added zhōu (usually translated as "provinces") as the third level on top, forming a three-tier structure.

The Sui and Tang dynasties abolished commanderies, and added circuits (dào, later lù under the Song and Jin) on top, maintaining a three-tier system that lasted through the 13th century. (As a second-level division, zhou are translated as "prefectures".) The Mongol-established Yuan dynasty introduced the modern precursors to provinces, bringing the number of levels to four. This system was then kept more or less intact until the Qing dynasty, the last imperial dynasty to rule China.

The Republic of China streamlined the levels to just provinces and counties in 1928 and made the first attempt to extend political administration beyond the county level by establishing townships below counties. This was also the system officially adopted by the People's Republic of China in 1949, which defined the administrative divisions of China as three levels: provinces, counties, and townships.

In practice, however, more levels were inserted. The ROC government soon learned that it was not feasible for a province to directly govern tens and sometimes hundreds of counties. Started from Jiangxi province in 1935, prefectures were later inserted between provinces and counties. They continued to be ubiquitously applied by the PRC government to nearly all areas of China until the 1980s. Since then, most of the prefectures were converted into prefecture-level cities. Greater administrative areas were inserted on top of provinces by the PRC government, but they were soon abolished, in 1954. District public offices were inserted between counties and townships; once ubiquitous as well, they are currently being abolished and very few remain.

The most recent major developments have been the establishment of Chongqing as a municipality and the creation of Hong Kong and Macau as special administrative regions.

Reform

In recent years there have been calls to reform the administrative divisions and levels of China. Rumours of an impending major reform have also spread through various online bulletin boards. [10]

The district public offices is an ongoing reform to remove an extra level of administration from between the county and township levels. There have also been calls to abolish the prefecture-level, and some provinces have transferred some of the power prefectures currently hold to the counties they govern. There are also calls to reduce the size of the provinces. The ultimate goal is to reduce the different administration levels from five to three (Provincial level, County level, Village level), reducing the amount of corruption as well as the number of government workers, in order to lower the budget.

See also

Related Research Articles

A prefecture is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international church structures, as well as in antiquity a Roman district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prefecture-level city</span> City or municipality of a Chinese province

A prefecture-level city or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure.

A sub-provincial division in China is a prefecture-level city governed by a province promoted by half-a-level. Thus, it is half-a-level under the provincial level, and half-a-level above the prefecture-level, hence the name "sub-provincial".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prefectures of China</span> Historical administrative divisions of China

Prefectures are one of four types of prefecture-level divisions in China, the second-level administrative division in the country. While at one time prefectures were the most common prefecture-level division, they are in the process of being abolished and only seven formally-designated prefectures remain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wanzhou, Chongqing</span> District in Chongqing, Peoples Republic of China

Wanzhou District is Chongqing's second most populated urban core area on the upper reaches of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River in China. It is currently governed as a district of Chongqing Municipality, bordering Sichuan to the northwest and Hubei to the southeast. It was formerly known as Wanxian or Wan County. Prior to Chongqing's formation as a direct-controlled municipality, Wanzhou was part of Sichuan province. The urban core of Wanzhou is 228 km (142 mi) away from Chongqing's city proper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">District (China)</span> Administrative division in China

The term district, in the context of China, is used to refer to several unrelated political divisions in both ancient and modern China.

In recent years there have been calls to reform the administrative divisions and levels of China, which is defined either the People's Republic of China or the Republic of China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baiyin, Baiyin</span> District in Gansu, China

Baiyin District is the main urban district of and the economic, cultural and political center of the prefecture-level city of Baiyin, Gansu, China. It has a population of 290,000, 90% of whom live in the urban area. It was established as an administrative division in 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gao'an</span> County-level city in Jiangxi, Peoples Republic of China

Gao'an is a county-level city in the northwest-central part of Jiangxi province, China. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Yichun, and is located about 35 kilometers west from Nanchang, the provincial capital. It covers an area of 2439.33 square kilometers and has an estimated population of 1 million people. In 1993, it became a city comprising 20 smaller towns. It is well known for calligraphy and thriving ceramics industry.

Louxing District is the only urban district and the seat of Loudi Prefecturel-level City, Hunan Province, China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yaodu District</span> District in Shanxi, Peoples Republic of China

Yaodu District is a district of the city of Linfen, Shanxi Province, China. Yaodu spans 1,307 square kilometers in area, and has a population of 944,050 as of 2010. The district serves at the administrative center for Linfen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qianjiang, Chongqing</span> District in Chongqing, Peoples Republic of China

Qianjiang District, formerly Qianjiang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, is a district, in the southeastern part of Chongqing, China, bordering Hubei province to the east and northeast. While it is governed as a district, in practice Qianjiang is its own city proper far removed from the urban centre of Chongqing. Qianjiang is nicknamed "The Throat of Sichuan and Hubei" (川鄂咽喉) because it sits on the intersection of Sichuan-Hubei and Sichuan-Hunan Roads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Direct-administered municipality</span> Highest level of classification for cities in China

A direct-administered municipality is a city in China directly governed by the Central People's Government and not part of a province. There are four municipalities in China: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing.

The administrative division codes of the People's Republic of China identify the administrative divisions of China at county level and above. They are published by the National Bureau of Statistics of China with the latest version issued on September 30, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the administrative divisions of China (1949–present)</span>

The history of the administrative divisions of China after 1949 refers to the administrative divisions under the People's Republic of China. In 1949, the communist forces initially held scattered fragments of China at the start of the Chinese Civil War. By late 1949, they controlled the majority of mainland China, forcing the Republic of China government to relocate to Taiwan.

The administrative divisions of China between 1912 and 1949 were established under the regime of the Republic of China government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County-level divisions of China</span> Third-level administrative divisions of China

The People's Republic of China (PRC) is divided into 2,854 county-level divisions which rank below prefectures/provinces and above townships as the third-level administrative division in the country. Of these, 2,842 are located in territory controlled by the PRC, while 172 are located in land controlled by the Republic of China (ROC).

References

  1. ↑ King, Gary (January 14, 2017). "How the Chinese Government Fabricates Social Media Posts for Strategic Distraction, not Engaged Argument". Self-published at Harvard University. Archived from the original on 2017-01-19. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  2. ↑ 精选汉英词典(第四版)[Concise Chinese-English Dictionary (Fourth Edition).]. Oxford University Press and The Commercial Press. 2011. p. 248. 街道jiēdào (名)1 street 2 what concerns the neighborhood: ~ 办事处 subdistrict office. {...}
  3. ↑ 現代漢語詞典(第七版)[ Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (Seventh Edition).]. The Commercial Press. 1 September 2016. p. 663. ISBN   978-7-100-12450-8. 【街道办事处】jiēdào bànshìchù市辖区、不设区的市的人民政府派出机关。 在上一级政府领导下，负责本辖区内的社区服务、经济发展、社会治安等工作。
  4. ↑ 中国的行政区划——省级行政单位. Government of the People's Republic of China. 2009-04-17. Archived from the original on 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  5. ↑ 中华人民共和国行政区划 [Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China], 15 June 2005, archived from the original on 2010-07-23, retrieved 5 June 2010
  6. ↑ Chapter II : Relationship between the Central Authorities and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Article 12, archived from the original on 2010-07-29, retrieved 5 June 2010
  7. ↑ Chapter II Relationship between the Central Authorities and the Macau Special Administrative Region, Article 12, archived from the original on 5 February 2012, retrieved 5 June 2010
  8. ↑ "Hudong Wiki" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2010-09-06. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
  9. ↑ Chan, Kam Wing (2007). "Misconceptions and Complexities in the Study of China's Cities: Definitions, Statistics, and Implications" (PDF). Eurasian Geography and Economics. University of Washington. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2011-07-21.
  10. ↑ 民政部官员：“中国将要设50个省区市”报道失实 (in Simplified Chinese). Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York. 2004-05-10. Archived from the original on 2009-09-23. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.