Sub-provincial division


A sub-provincial division in the People's Republic of China is like a prefecture-level city that is governed 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. However, they are marked the same as other provincial capitals in almost all maps.

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

Sub-provincial municipalities

The original 16 municipalities were renamed as the sub-provincial municipalities on 25 February 1994 by the Central Organization Committee out of the prefecture-level municipalities. They are mostly the capitals of the provinces in which they are located.
Currently, there are 15 sub-provincial municipalities after Chongqing was designated direct-control:
Division nameSimplified ChineseHanyu PinyinProvinceAbbreviationRegionPopulation Date of designationSubdivision
Changchun长Northeast7,677,0891989-02-117 districts, 2 county municipalities & 1 county
Chengdu蓉Southwest14,047,6251989-02-1111 districts, 4 county municipalities & 5 counties
Dalian连（鲲）Northeast6,690,4321984-07-137 districts, 2 county municipalities & 1 county
Guangzhou穗South Central12,700,8001984-10-0511 districts
Hangzhou杭East8,700,4001994-02-2510 districts, 1 county municipalitie & 2 counties
Harbin哈Northeast10,635,9711984-10-059 districts, 2 county municipalities & 7 counties
Jinan济East6,814,0001994-02-257 districts & 3 counties
Nanjing宁East8,001,6801989-02-1111 districts
Ningbo甬East7,605,6891987-02-246 districts, 2 county municipalities & 2 counties
Qingdao胶East8,715,1001986-10-157 districts & 3 county municipalities
Shenyang沈Northeast8,106,1711984-07-1110 districts, 1 county municipalitie & 2 counties
Shenzhen深（鹏）South Central10,357,9381988-10-038 districts
Wuhan汉South Central9,785,3921984-05-2113 districts
Xi'an镐Northwest8,467,8371984-10-0511 districts & 2 counties
Xiamen鹭East3,531,3471988-04-186 districts

Chongqing was formerly a sub-provincial municipality of Sichuan until 14 March 1997, when it was made an independent municipality by splitting it out of Sichuan altogether. The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps also has the powers of a sub-provincial division.
Chengdu is the largest sub-provincial municipality. It has a population exceeding that of the independent municipality of Tianjin while both Harbin and Chengdu have a bigger land area than Tianjin.
In total, there are five sub-provincial municipalities that are not themselves provincial capitals. These five municipalities have been designated as the "Municipalities with Independent Planning Status".

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.
Division nameSimplified ChineseHanyu PinyinMunicipalityAbbreviationRegionPopulation Date of designationSubdivision
Binhai New Area滨海North2,482,065200919 Subdistricts & 7 towns
Pudong New Area浦东East5,044,430199213 Subdistricts & 25 towns

Sub-provincial autonomous prefecture

has both two prefectures of Altai and Tacheng, and 11 county-level administrative divisions under its jurisdiction, and in its legal status itself is only a prefecture-level division, which is a special case in China's administrative divisions. It is not accurate to regard Ili Kazakh Autonomous Region as a sub-provincial administrative division, which has no legal basis.
Division nameSimplified ChineseHanyu PinyinProvinceAbbreviationRegionPopulation Date of designationSubdivision
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture伊犁Northwest4,305,1191979 5 county cities, 17 counties & 2 autonomous counties

Sub-provincial Municipal Conference

The National Joint Conference of Sub-provincial City People's Congress Standing Committee Chairpersons 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
  2. Harbin
  3. Wuhan
  4. Dalian
  5. Xi'an
  6. Shenyang
  7. Chongqing
  8. Qingdao
  9. Shenzhen
  10. Nanjing
  11. Changchun
  12. Hangzhou
  13. Jinan
  14. Xiamen
  15. Ningbo
  16. Chengdu
  17. Guangzhou
  18. Harbin
  19. Wuhan
  20. Shenyang
  21. Qingdao
  22. Shenzhen
  23. Dalian
  24. Xi'an
  25. Nanjing
  26. Changchun