Direct-controlled municipality of the People's Republic of China

Municipality (Zhixiashi)
Simplified Chinese	直辖市
Traditional Chinese	直轄市
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Zhíxiáshì

This article is part of the series: Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China

Provincial level Provinces (省; shěng) Autonomous regions (自治区; zìzhìqū) Municipalities (直辖市; zhíxiáshì) Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国特别行政区/中華人民共和國特别行政區; tèbié xíngzhèngqū)

Sub-provincial level Sub-provincial autonomous prefectures (副省级自治州; fùshěngjí zìzhìzhōu) Sub-provincial cities (副省级城市; fùshěngjí chéngshì) Sub-provincial new areas (副省级市辖新区; fùshěngjí shìxiá xīnqū)

Prefectural level Prefectures (地区; dìqū) Autonomous prefectures (自治州; zīzhìzhōu) Prefecture-level cities (地级市; dìjíshì) Leagues (盟; méng)

Sub-prefecture-level Sub-prefectural-level cities (副地级市; fùdìjíshì)

County level Counties (县; xiàn) Autonomous counties (自治县; zìzhìxiàn) County-level cities (县级市; xiànjíshì) City districts (市辖区; shìxiáqū) Ethnic districts Banners (旗; qí) Autonomous banners (自治旗; zìzhìqí) Forestry areas (林区; línqū) Special districts (特区; tèqū)

Township level Townships (乡; xiāng) Ethnic townships (民族乡; mínzúxiāng) Towns (镇; zhèn) Subdistricts (街道办事处; jiēdào bànshìchù) Sumus (苏木; sūmù) Ethnic sumus (民族苏木; mínzúsūmù) District public offices (abolishing) (区公所; qū gōngsuǒ)

Village level Village Committees (村民委员会; cūnmín-wěiyuánhùi) Neighborhood Committees (居民委员会; jūmín-wěiyuánhùi)

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Municipality (Chinese: 直辖市; pinyin: zhíxiáshì) also translated as Direct-controlled municipality or municipality directly under the central government is the highest level classification for cities used by People's Republic of China.

History

The first municipalities were the 11 cities of Nanjing, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Qingdao, Chongqing, Xi'an, Guangzhou, Hankou (now part of Wuhan), Shenyang, and Harbin when the ROC government ruled China. They were established in 1927 soon after they were designated as "cities" during the 1920s. Nominally Dalian was a municipality as well, although it was under Japanese Occupation. These cities were first called special municipalities/cities (Chinese: 特別市; pinyin: Tébíeshì), but were later renamed Yuan-controlled municipalities (simplified Chinese: 院辖市; traditional Chinese: 院轄市; pinyin: Yùanxíashì), then direct-controlled municipalities (simplified Chinese: 直辖市; traditional Chinese: 直轄市; pinyin: Zhíxiáshì) by the Central Government.

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Anshan, Benxi, and Fushun were also made municipalities, while Qingdao, Dalian, and Harbin were reduced to provincial municipalities.^[1] Hankou was merged into Wuhan. Hence there remained 12 municipalities, until Dalian was elevated in 1950. In November 1952, Nanjing was reduced to a provincial municipality.^[2] In July 1953, Harbin was restored to municipality status, along with Changchun.^[3] Except Beijing and Tianjin, which were under central control, all other municipalities were governed by the greater administrative areas.

In June 1954, 11 of the 14 municipalities were reduced to sub-provincial cities; many of them became capitals of the provinces they were in. Only Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin remained municipalities, until Chongqing was restored in 1997 with a much enlarged area. Tianjin was also temporarily reverted to sub-provincial city status around the 1960s.

Position in hierarchy

Municipalities are the highest-ranked cities in the PRC. Some cities of lower levels may also refer to themselves as municipalities in the English language.

Three levels of cities in the People's Republic of China:

1. Municipalities (直辖市)
2. Prefecture-level cities (地级市) including sub-provincial cities
3. County-level cities (县级市) including Sub-prefecture-level cities

Administration

In municipalities, the highest ranking government official is the Mayor. The mayor is also a delegate in the National People's Congress (the legislature).^[4] and Deputy Secretary of the CPC Municipal Committee. However, the highest administrative authority in the municipality belongs to the Secretary of the CPC Municipal Committee or Party Secretary.

Current PRC municipalities

ISO[5]	Division name	Simp. Hanzi	Hanyu Pinyin	Abbr.	Region	Population[6]	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)	Divisions	City seat
CN-11	Municipality of Beijing	北京市	Běijīng Shì	京 jīng	North	19,612,368	16,801	1,167	List (14 districts & 2 counties)	Dongcheng District (东城区)
CN-12	Municipality of Tianjin	天津市	Tiānjīn Shì	津 jīn	North	12,938,224	11,760	1,100	List (13 districts & 3 counties)	Heping District (和平区)
CN-31	Municipality of Shanghai	上海市	Shànghǎi Shì	沪 hù	East	23,019,148	6,340	3,630	List (16 districts & 1 county)	Huangpu District (黄浦区)
CN-50	Municipality of Chongqing	重庆市	Chóngqìng Shì	渝 yú	Southwest	28,846,170	82,300	350	List (19 districts, 15 counties, & 4 autonomous counties)	Yuzhong District (渝中区)

List of defunct municipalities

Name	Simp. Hanzi	Pinyin	Abbr.	Region	Current province	City seat	Administration period
City of Nanjing	南京市	Nánjīng Shì	宁 níng	East	Jiangsu	Xuanwu District (玄武区)	1927–1952
City of Qingdao	青岛市	Qīngdǎo Shì	青 qīng	East	Shandong	Shinan District (市南区)	1927–1949
City of Xi'an	西安市	Xī'ān Shì	鎬 hào	Northwest	Shaanxi	Weiyang District (未央区)	1927–1954
City of Guangzhou	广州市	Guǎngzhōu Shì	穗 suì	South Central	Guangdong	Yuexiu District (越秀区)	1927–1954
City of Hankou (Wuhan)	汉口市 (武汉市)	Hànkǒu Shì (Wǔhàn Shì)	汉 hàn	South Central	Hubei	Jiang'an District (江岸区)	1927–1949
City of Harbin	哈尔滨市	Hāěrbīn Shì	哈 hā	Northeast	Heilongjiang	Nangang District (南岗区)	1927–1949, 1953–1954
City of Dalian	大连市	Dàlián Shì	连 lián	Northeast	Liaoning	Xigang District (西岗区)	1927–1949, 1950–1954
City of Shenyang	沈阳市	Shěnyáng Shì	沈 shěn	Northeast	Liaoning	Shenhe District (沈河区)	1929–1954
City of Anshan	鞍山市	Ānshān Shì	鞍 ān	Northeast	Liaoning	Tiedong District (铁东区)	1949–1954
City of Benxi	本溪市	Běnxī Shì	本 běn	Northeast	Liaoning	Pingshan District (平山区)	1949–1954
City of Fushun	抚顺市	Fǔshùn Shì	抚 fǔ	Northeast	Liaoning	Xinfu District (新抚区)	1949–1954
City of Changchun	长春市	Chángchūn Shì	春 chūn	Northeast	Jilin	Nanguan District (南关区)	1953–1954

References

1. ^ 中华人民共和国行政区划（1949年)
2. ^ 中华人民共和国行政区划（1952年）
3. ^ 中华人民共和国行政区划（1953年）
4. ^ Chongqing Mayor: Government Must Place Service Above Anything Else
5. ^ ISO 3166-2:CN (ISO 3166-2 codes for the provinces of China)
6. ^ "Communiqué of the National Bureau of Statistics of People's Republic of China on Major Figures of the 2010 Population Census (No. 1)". National Bureau of Statistics of China. April 28, 2011. http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/newsandcomingevents/t20110428_402722244.htm. Retrieved July 19, 2011.