Most of the provinces of China have boundaries which were established in the late Ming Dynasty. Major changes since then have been the reorganization of provinces in the Northeast after the Communist takeover of mainland China in 1949 and the establishment of autonomous regions which are based on Soviet nationality theory.
The most recent administrative changes have included the elevation of Hainan and Chongqing to provincial level status and the organization of Hong Kong and Macau as Special Administrative Regions. All of the newly created administrative levels of the People's Republic of China equal those of the provinces. In Taiwan, Taipei and Kaohsiung were elevated to the status of centrally administered municipalities after the retreat of the KMT-led government.
In mainland China, provinces theoretically are subservient to the PRC central government, but in practice provincial officials have a large amount of 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.
Provinces also 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.
Municipalities (直辖市 zhíxiáshì) are large cities that have the same administrative level of provinces. Municipalities directly control county-level divisions, such as districts and counties, and in the case of Chongqing, county-level cities. (Chongqing is a special case, since the area it controls is comparable to a province.)
Special Administrative Regions (特别行政区 tèbié xíngzhèngqū) are local administrative regions enjoying a high degree of autonomy under the One country, two systems arrangement, and come directly under the central government. Since both of the current SAR's are small, they are not further subdivided into formal levels of government. Special administrative regions were provided for in the 1982 Constitution, but were only established in 1997 and 1999 in Hong Kong and Macau respectively when China resumed its exercise of sovereignty in these regions.
Autonomous regions (自治区 zìzhìqū) have provincial status as well, but are guaranteed more rights under the constitution. For example, they have a president (where regular provinces have governors), who must be of the ethnic group as specified by the autonomous region (Tibetan, Uighur, etc)
In total, there are 4 municipalities, 22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions and 2 SAR's administered by the PRC. The ROC administers 2 municipalities and 2 provinces (though both provincial governments have been largely streamlined).
Prefecture-level cities (地级市 dìjíshí) or Provincial cities: These are, despite their names, large administrative regions that cover both urban and rural areas, and are not "cities" in the strictest sense of the word. Some of the largest prefecture-level cities are also sub-provincial cities, meaning that they are given a great deal of autonomy within their respective provinces.
Prefectures (地区 dìqū) are an informal level of government. The current trend seems to be replacing them with prefecture-level cities.
Autonomous prefectures (自治州 zìzhìzhōu) are a constitutionally guaranteed, formal level of government (unlike regular prefectures)
Inner Mongolia has leagues (盟 méng). Other than name, they are the same as prefectures.
As of February 1, 2004, there are 333 prefecture-level divisions, including 283 cities, 17 prefectures, 30 autonomous prefectures, and 3 leagues in mainland China.
Counties (县 xiàn): the most common county-level division, governed by magistrates. Counties are the most stable level of government in Chinese history, and have been extant since the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC), though for most of that time they are, confusingly, translated as "prefectures" into English.
Districts (市辖区 shìxiáqū): appear only under municipalities and prefecture-level cities.
County-level cities (县级市 xiànjíshì, or "county-class cities") are, like prefecture-level cities, large entities covering both urban and rural areas, and hence not "cities" in the strictest sense of the word.
Autonomous counties (自治县 zìzhìxiàn): dominated by a specific ethnic minority (or minorities)
Only Inner Mongolia has bannerss (旗 qí) and autonomous bannerss (自治旗 zìzhìqí), a holdover in name from more ancient modes of government in that region
There is 1 county-level forestry area (林区 línqū) in Hubei province, Shennongjia.
There are 2 special county-level regions (特区 tèqū) in Guizhou province.
As of February 1, 2004, there are 2861 county-level divisions, including 848 districts, 374 cities, 1467 counties, 117 autonomous counties, 49 banners, 3 autonomous banners, 2 special regions and 1 forestry area in mainland China.
national/ethnic townships (民族乡 mínzúxiāng): these contain concentrations of ethnic minorities
(urban) sub-district (街道办事处 jiēdàobànshìchù "street offices", or 办/辦): only in county-level cities and districts (not counties). They are much smaller than towns and townships, but are more developed.
A few provinces have ("district public offices" 区公所 qūgōngsuǒ) which are above townships and below counties.
Inner Mongolia has sūmù (苏木) and ethnic sūmù (民族苏木).
As of December 31, 2003 there are 44067 township-level divisions, including 20226 towns, 16636 townships, 1147 ethnic townships, 279 sumu, 2 ethnic sumu, 5751 street offices, and 26 district public offices in mainland China.
5
Village level
The level serves as organizational (census, mail system) and not so much importance in political representative power:
village committee (村民委员会), aka, villager group (村民小组): the most undeveloped region, and most numerous (but the number is decreasing, converting to other sub-town-level entities)
administrative village (行政村)
natural village (自然村)
Instead of neighborhood committees and sub-districts, a city could have:
Basic local divisions like neighbourhoods and communities are not informal like in the West, but have defined boundaries and designated heads (one per area). The top of the hierarchy used to be occupied by the supreme divisions of greater administrative areas, but this is no longer the case.
The Republic of China has no autonomous regions, prefecture-level cities or sub-provincial cities. Province-governed cities are the equivalents of county-level cities. It has county-governed city (town-level). In addition, it translates towns and townships both as townships. See Political divisions of the Republic of China.
Maps of China published in Taiwan will often show provincial boundaries as they were in 1949 which do not match the current administrative structure as decided by the Communist Party of China post-1949.
Guangxi Zhuang (广西壮族 Guǎngxī Zhuàngzú) (Zhuang - Gvaŋзsiь Bouчcueŋь Sɯcigi), abbr. Gui (桂 guì) - home of Zhuang minority
Nei Mongol or Inner Mongolia (内蒙古 nèiměnggǔ) (Mongolian - Дотоод Монголын Өөртөө Засах Орон/Dotood Mongolyn Öörtöö Dzasah Oron), abbr. Meng (蒙 měng) - home of Mongol minority
Ningxia Hui (宁夏回族 Níngxià huízú), abbr. Ning (宁 níng) - home of Hui minority
Xinjiang Uighur (新疆维吾尔族 Xīnjiāng Wéiwú'ěrzú) (Uyghur - ?injaŋ Uyġur Aptonom Rayoni), abbr. Xin (新 xīn); - home of Uighur minority (See also East Turkestan)
Xizang (Tibetan Autonomous Region) (西藏 Xīzàng) (Tibetan - བོད་རང་སྐྱོང་ལྗོངས/Bod.raṅ.skyoṅ.ljoṅs), abbr. Zang (藏 zàng) - home of Tibetanss
Since these two cities were elevated after 1949 by a government the PRC considered no longer legitimate, the PRC does not consider them to be centrally administered municipalities and refers to Taipei, and not Chung-hsing-hsin-ts'un, as the provincial capital of Taiwan.
The current province boundaries of China were mostly drawn during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, and are criticized by some as relics of a divide and rule policy that prevailed during those times. Current provinces frequently transcend major cultural and geographical divides, encompassing areas that have little in common. On the other hand, many cultural blocs, such as the Yangtze delta, the Huai watershed, or the Hakka lands, are divided along boundaries that do not actually indicate any geographical or cultural divide. Proponents for redrawing province boundaries believe that boundaries should be redrawn to better reflect cultural and geographical divides, which would in turn help to reduce conflict within provinces, promote regional cooperation, and increase administrative efficiency.
Opponents of this, on the other hand, point to the fact that despite disparities within provinces, these boundaries have remained more or less stable for many centuries, and form an important part of identity for all Chinese. Opponents also doubt whether realigning province borders to cultural boundaries would really help in promoting regional cooperation -- would it not simply lead to regionalism instead?
Proponents point to the size of current provinces, such as Henan, Shandong, and Sichuan, all of which having populations close to 100 million people. It is said that such enormous size puts an enormous burden on provincial governments, resulting in inefficiency and a poor amount of responsiveness to grassroots needs and desires. In addition, some proponents of province shrin Source | Copyright
