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Political divisions of China
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Due to China's large population and area, the administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times. The constitution of the People's Republic of China provides for three de jure levels of government. Currently, however, there are five practical (de facto) levels of local government: the province, prefecture, county, township, and village.
Since the seventeenth century, provincial boundaries in China have remained largely static.
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Encyclopedia
Due to China's large population and area, the administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times. The constitution of the People's Republic of China provides for three de jure levels of government. Currently, however, there are five practical (de facto) levels of local government: the province, prefecture, county, township, and village.
Since the seventeenth century, provincial boundaries in China have remained largely static. Major changes since then have been the reorganization 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 province, county, and township. However, two more levels have been inserted in actual implementation: the prefecture, under provinces; and the village, under townships. There is a sixth level, the district public office, below counties, but it is being abolished. The People's Republic of China administers 33 province-level regions, 333 prefecture-level regions, 2,862 county-level regions, 41,636 township-level regions, and several village-level regions.
Each of the levels correspond 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 December 31, 2005.
Province level
The People's Republic of China administers 33 province-level divisions, including 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two special administrative regions:
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 the provinces in the northeast, have boundaries which were established during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Sometimes provincial borders veer markedly away from cultural or geographical boundaries, a phenomenon described as "dog's teeth interlocking" . 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 changes have included the elevation of Hainan (1988) and Chongqing (1997) to provincial level status and the organization of Hong Kong (1997) and Macau (1999) as Special Administrative Regions.
Each province level subjects belongs to one of the following categories:
Province level subdivisions>| | 22 Provinces (; sheng)— A standard province level subject that has a provincial committee, headed by a secretary. The committee secretary is first-in-charge of the province, rather than the governor of the provincial government. | | | 5 Autonomous Regions (; zizhìqù)— 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. In practice, they only have the right to appoint the governor (from the local minority). | | | 4 Municipalities (; zhíxiáshì)— The highest level classification for cities used by Chinese governments, with status equal to that of the provinces. | | | 2 Special Administrative Regions (SARs) (; tèbiéxíngzhèngqu)— A highly autonomous and largely self-governing subnational subject of the People's Republic of China. Each SAR has a gubernatorial chief executive as head of the region and head of government. Each region's government, however, is not fully independent, as foreign policy and military defense are retained as the province of the nation and its central government. | | | 1 Claimed Province — The People's Republic of China claims the island of Taiwan and its surrounding islets, including Penghu, as "Taiwan Province". The territory is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC, commonly called "Taiwan"). |
List of province level subdivisions
align=center style="background:#BFD7FF"| Map of province-level divisions in the People's Republic of China | |
align=center style="background:#BFD7FF"| Provinces-level divisions of the People's Republic of China | Map # | Region | Division name | Trad. | Simp. | Pinyin | Postal | Abbr. | ISO | Type | Capital | Population¹ | Density² | Area³ | Divisions |
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Prefecture level
Prefecture-level divisions are the second level of the administrative structure. As of December 31, 2005, this structure consisted of 333 divisions composed of:
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 2 autonomous regions (Xinjiang, Tibet) have more than three second-level or prefecture-level divisions that are not prefecture-level cities.
Prefecture-level divisions are the second level of the administrative structure. As of December 31, 2005, this structure consisted of 333 divisions composed of:
Prefecture level subdivisions>| 17 Prefecture (; dìqu)— These were formerly the dominant second-level division, which is why this administrative level is often called "prefecture-level". However, they were replaced for the most part by prefecture-level cities from 1983 to the 1990s. Today, prefectures exist mostly in Xinjiang and Tibet | | 30 Autonomous Prefectures (; zizhìqù)— Are prefectures with one or more designated ethnic minorities. These are mostly to be found in China's western regions. | | 283 Prefecture-level Cities (; dìjíshì)— It form the vast majority of prefecture-level divisions. Prefecture-level cities are generally composed of an urban center and surrounding rural areas much larger than the urban core, and thus are not "cities" in the strict sense of the term. | | 3 Leagues (; méng)— are effectively the same as prefectures, but they are to be 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
As of December 31, 2005, there are 2,872 county-level divisions, including 862 districts, 374 cities, 1,464 counties, 117 autonomous counties, 49 banners, 3 autonomous banners, 2 special districts and 1 forestry district in mainland China (the Republic of China governs 23 county-level divisions, including 18 counties and 5 provincial municipalities).
County level subdivisions>| 1,464 County (; xiàn)— are the most common county-level subjects. Counties have continuously existed since the Warring States Period, much earlier than any other level of government in China. In Sinologist literature, xian are often translated as "districts" or "prefectures". | | 117 Autonomous Counties (; zìzhìxiàn)— are counties with one or more designated ethnic minorities. These are analogous to autonomous regions (at the province-level) and autonomous prefectures (at the prefecture-level). | | 374 County-level cities (; xiànjíshì)— are, like prefecture-level cities, not "cities" in the traditional sense of the word, since they are actually large administrative regions that cover both urban and rural areas. It was popular for counties to become county-level cities in the 1990s, though this has since been halted. | | 852 Districts (; shìxiáqu)— another type of county-level division. These were formerly the subdivisions of urban areas, consisting of built-up areas only. In recent years, however, many counties have been converted into districts, so that today districts are often just like counties, with towns, villages, and farmland. | | 49 Banners (; qí)— which are the same as counties except in name. The name is a holdover from earlier forms of administration in Mongolia. | | 3 Autonomous Banners (; zìzhìqí)— which are the same autonomous counties except in name. The name is a holdover from earlier forms of administration in Mongolia. | | 1 Forestry Areas (; línqu)— a special county-level subject forestry district currently there is only one forestry area located in Hubei province. | | 2 Special Districts (; tèqu)— another special county-level subject exclusively locatied in Guizhou province. |
Township level
Township level subdivisions>| 14,677 Townships (; xiang)— in smaller rural areas division they are divided into this subject | | Ethnic Townships (; mínzúxiang)— in a small one or more designated ethnic minorities rural areas division they are divided into this subject | | 19,522 Towns (; zhèn)— in larger rural areas division they are divided into this subject | | 6,152 Subdistricts (; jiedàobànshìchù)— in a small urban areas division they are divided into this subject | | 11 District Public Offices (; qugongsuo)— 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 Sumus (; sumù)— are the same as townships, but are unique to Inner Mongolia. | | 1 Ethnic Sumus (; mínzúsumù)— are the same as ethnic townships, but are unique to Inner Mongolia. |
Village level
The village level 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 the West, but have defined boundaries and designated heads (one per area):
In urban areas, every subdistrict of a district of a city administers many communities or neighborhoods. Each of them have a neighborhood 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 an administrative village, which is a bureaucratic entity.
Village level subdivisions>| 80,717 Neighborhood Committees (; jumínweiyuánhùi) | | Neighborhoods / Communities (; shèqu) | | 623,669 Village Committees / Village groups (; cunmínweiyuánhùi / cunmínxiaozu) | | Administrative Villages (; xíngzhèngcun) | | Natural Villages (; zìráncun) | | Informal | | City-Type Neighborhood (; jumínqu) | | City-Type Communities (; shèqu) |
Special cases
Although every single administrative division has a clearly defined level associated with it, sometimes an entity may be given more autonomy than its level allows for.
For example, a few of the largest prefecture-level cities are given more autonomy. These are known as sub-provincial cities, meaning that they are given a level of power higher than a prefecture, but still lower than a province. Such cities are half a level higher than what they would normally be. Although these cities still belong to provinces, their special status gives them a high degree of autonomy within their respective provinces.
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).
A concrete example is the Pudong District of Shanghai. Although its status as a district of a direct-controlled 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>| 16 Sub-Provincial Cities (; fùshengjíchéngshì) | | 8 Sub-Prefecture-Level Cities (; fùdìjíshì) | | 1 Sub-Provincial Districts (; fùshengjíchéngshìxiáqu) |
Ambiguity of the word "city" in China
Due to the complexity of the administrative divisions, the Chinese word "?"(shì) or in English "city", have many different meanings.
By its political level, when a "city" is referred, it can be a:
When used in the statistical data, the word "city" may have three different meanings:
- The area administrated by the city. For the municipality, the sub-provincial city, or the prefecture-level city, a "city" in this sense includes all of the counties, county-level cities, city districts that the city governed. For the Sub-prefecture-level city or the County-level city, it includes all of the subdistricts, towns and townships that it has.
- The area comprised by its the urban city districts and suburb city districts. The difference between the urban district and the suburb districts is that an urban district is only comprised by the subdistricts, while a suburb district also have towns and townships to govern rural areas. In some sense, this definition is approximately the metropolitan area. This definition is not applied to the sub-prefecture-level city and the county-level city since they do not have city districts under them.
- The urban area. Sometimes the urban area is referred as (?? shìqu). For the municipality, the sub-provincial city, and the prefecture-level city, it is comprised by the urban city district and the adjacent subdistricts of the suburb city districts. For the sub-prefecture-level city and the county-level city, only central subdistricts are included. This definition is close to the strict meaning of "city" in western countries.
It is important to specify the definition of "city" when referring to statistical data of Chinese cities. Otherwise, confusion may arise. For example, Shanghai is the largest city in China by the population in the urban area, but it is a smaller city than Chongqing by the population within the administration area.
History
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 zhou (usually translated as "provinces") as a third level on top, forming a three-tier structure.
The Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty abolished commanderies, and added circuits (dào, later lù under the Song) on top, maintaining a three-tier system that lasted through the Song Dynasty. (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 continue be ubiquitously applied by the PRC government to nearly all areas of China until 1980s. Since then, most of the perfectures 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 developments major developments have been the establishment of Chongqing as a municipality and the creation of Hong Kong and Macau 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.
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, County, Village) reducing the amount of corruption as well as the number of government workers, in order to lower the budget.
See also
External links
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