Sub-provincial division

A sub-provincial division (Chinese: 副ふく省しょう级行政ぎょうせい区く; pinyin: Fùshěngjí xíngzhèngqū) 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".

The promotion applies to all its subdivisions, administrative institutions, and political parties. For example, the mayor of a sub-provincial division is equal in status to a vice-governor of a province.

A sub-provincial division is still administratively governed by a province, just like prefecture-level divisions. However, five of them are also cities specifically designated in the state plan (Chinese: 计划单列市し / 計けい劃單列れつ市し), which enjoy the provincial level authority over economic issues—governmental finance, customs, economic strategy planning, economic policy, foreign economic affairs, banking, etc.

Sub-provincial divisions, similar to prefectural-level divisions, are administrative units comprising, typically, a main central urban area (the core city) surrounded by rural area, which together are divided into districts, and some surrounding counties or county-level cities (all promoted to sub-prefecture level) governed by the sub-provincial division on behalf of the province, which all have their own urban areas surrounded by their own rural areas.

Map of sub-provincial level entries in China

Map of Sub-provincial level entries in 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:

Sub-provincial municipalities of China

Division name	Simplified Chinese	Hanyu Pinyin	Province	Abbreviation	Region	Population (2010 Census)	Date of designation	Subdivision
Changchun	长春市し	Chángchūn	Jilin	长	Northeast	7,677,089	1989-02-11	7 districts, 2 county municipalities & 1 county
Chengdu	成都せいと市し	Chéngdū	Sichuan	蓉	Southwest	14,047,625	1989-02-11	11 districts, 4 county municipalities & 5 counties
Dalian	大だい连市し	Dàlián	Liaoning	连（鲲）	Northeast	6,690,432	1984-07-13	7 districts, 2 county municipalities & 1 county
Guangzhou	广州市し	Guǎngzhōu	Guangdong	穗ほ	South Central	12,700,800	1984-10-05	11 districts
Hangzhou	杭州こうしゅう市し	Hángzhōu	Zhejiang	杭くい	East	8,700,400	1994-02-25	10 districts, 1 county municipality & 2 counties
Harbin	哈尔滨市し	Hā'ěrbīn	Heilongjiang	哈	Northeast	10,635,971	1984-10-05	9 districts, 2 county municipalities & 7 counties
Jinan	济南市し	Jǐnán	Shandong	济	East	6,814,000	1994-02-25	7 districts & 3 counties
Nanjing	南京なんきん市し	Nánjīng	Jiangsu	宁	East	8,001,680	1989-02-11	11 districts
Ningbo	宁波市し	Níngbō	Zhejiang	甬	East	7,605,689	1987-02-24	6 districts, 2 county municipalities & 2 counties
Qingdao	青あお岛市し	Qīngdǎo	Shandong	胶	East	8,715,100	1986-10-15	7 districts & 3 county municipalities
Shenyang	沈阳市し	Shěnyáng	Liaoning	沈	Northeast	8,106,171	1984-07-11	10 districts, 1 county municipality & 2 counties
Shenzhen	深ふか圳市し	Shēnzhèn	Guangdong	深ふか（鹏）	South Central	10,357,938	1988-10-03	8 districts (4 new districts)
Wuhan	武たけ汉市し	Wǔhàn	Hubei	汉	South Central	9,785,392	1984-05-21	13 districts
Xi'an	西安しーあん市し	Xī'ān	Shaanxi	镐	Northwest	8,467,837	1984-10-05	11 districts & 2 counties
Xiamen	厦门市し	Xiàmén	Fujian	鹭	East	3,531,347	1988-04-18	6 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" (simplified Chinese: 计划单列市し; traditional Chinese: 計けい劃單列れつ市し; pinyin: Jìhuá Dānliè Shì).

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 China

Division name	Simplified Chinese	Hanyu Pinyin	Municipality	Abbreviation	Region	Population (2010 Census)	Date of designation	Subdivision
Binhai New Area	滨海新しん区く	Bīnhǎi Xīn Qū	Tianjin	滨海	North	2,482,065	2009	19 Subdistricts & 7 towns (11 special township-level zones)
Pudong New Area	浦うら东新しん区く	Pǔdōng Xīn Qū	Shanghai	浦うら东	East	5,044,430	1992	13 Subdistricts & 25 towns (6 special township-level zones)

Sub-provincial autonomous prefecture

Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture has the two prefectures of Altai and Tacheng and 11 directly-controlled county-level administrative divisions under its jurisdiction. It itself is legally 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. Up until 2001, the Autonomous Prefecture had a 3rd prefecture as well. The directly controlled subdivisions were administered as part of Ili Prefecture (伊い犁地区ちく)

Sub-provincial autonomous prefecture of China

Division name	Simplified Chinese	Hanyu Pinyin	Province	Abbreviation	Region	Population (2010 Census)	Date of designation	Subdivision
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture	伊い犁哈萨克かつ自治じち州しゅう	Yīlí Hāsàkè Zìzhìzhōu	Xinjiang	伊い犁	Northwest	4,305,119	1979	(2 prefectures) 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 (全国ぜんこく副ふく省しょう级城市し人じん大だい常つね委い会かい主任しゅにん联席会かい议) 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)