Immediate provincial administrative zone
Immediate provincial administrative zones ( Chinese 副 省級 行政區 / 副 省级 行政区 , Pinyin fùshěngjí xíngzhèngqū ) are administrative units at the level of a district-free city in the People's Republic of China . The first provincial cities ( 副 省級 城市 / 副 省级 城市 , fù shěngjí chéngshì ) were given a special status by a government decision of February 25, 1994. The mayor or chairman of a provincial administrative zone has the same rank as the vice-governor of a province. Originally 16 provincial cities were created. Since Chongqing was promoted to the rank of a city under the government in 1997, 15 cities remain. In addition, there are two new municipal districts ( 新區 / 新区 , Xīn Qū ) and a provincial autonomous district ( 副 省級 自治州 / 副 省级 自治州 , fù shěngjí zìzhìzhōu ). These have a much higher degree of rights, competencies and responsibilities, especially in the areas of justice and economics, than the other 270 prefecture-level cities.
Immediate provincial cities
There are currently (2020) 15 provincial immediate cities.
| Provincial Immediate City |
province |
|---|---|
| Changchun | Jilin |
| Cheng you | Sichuan |
| Dalian | Liaoning |
| Guangzhou | Guangdong |
| Hangzhou | Zhejiang |
| Harbin | Heilongjiang |
| Jinan | Shandong |
| Nanjing | Jiangsu |
| Ningbo | Zhejiang |
| Qingdao | Shandong |
| Shenyang | Liaoning |
| Shenzhen | Guangdong |
| Wuhan | Hubei |
| Xiamen | Fujian |
| Xi'an | Shaanxi |
- Among the 15 cities, ten are provincial capitals (Changchun, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Harbin, Jinan, Nanjing, Shenyang, Wuhan and Xi'an).
- The provinces of Guangdong, Liaoning, Shandong and Zhejiang each represent two provincial cities,
- Fujian, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jilin, Shaanxi and Sichuan each one.
- Fujian is the only province on this list that does not have the capital ( Fuzhou ) as a sub-provincial city.
New boroughs
Immediate Provincial Autonomous Districts
Map of the provincial immediate administrative areas
