Sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China

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Administrative divisions
of the People's Republic
of China
This article is part of the
Political divisions of China
series
Province level
Provinces
Autonomous regions
Municipalities
Special Administrative
Regions (SARs)
Prefecture level
Prefectures
Autonomous prefectures
Prefecture-level cities
Sub-provincial cities
Leagues
County level
Counties
Autonomous counties
County-level cities
Sub-prefecture-level cities
City districts
Banners
Autonomous banners
Township level
Townships (ethnic)
Sumu (ethnic)
Towns
Subdistricts
County districts
(defunct)

A sub-provincial city (副省级城市) (or deputy-provincial city) in the People's Republic of China, is a prefecture-level city that is ruled by a province, but is administered independently in regard to economy and law. The mayor of a sub-provincial city is equal in status to a vice-governor of a province. Its status is below that of municipalities, which are independent and equivalent to provinces, but above other, regular prefecture-level cities, which are completely ruled by their provinces. The original 17 sub-provincial cities were created on February 25, 1994 by the Central Organization Committee out of prefecture-level cities. They are sometimes the capitals of the provinces in which they are located.

Currently, there are 16 sub-provincial cities:

Chongqing was formerly a sub-provincial city of Sichuan until 1997, when it was made a municipality by splitting it out of Sichuan altogether. Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps also has the powers of a sub-provincial city. Additionally, the head of Pudong District of Shanghai, which is a county-level district, is given sub-provincial powers.

Guangzhou, Harbin and Chengdu are the largest sub-provincial cities; each has a population exceeding that of the independent municipality of Tianjin.

The National Standing Committee of Sub-provincial Municipal People's Congresses' Chairmen Joint Conference (全国副省级城市人大常委会主任联席会议) 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: