The scope of this list is limited to capital cities of first-level administrative divisions such as provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, and special administrative regions, also including sub-provincial cities which are governed by a province but administered independently in many ways from a province.
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Provincial-level capitals
Note: The People's Republic of China claims Taiwan as one of its provinces, which it does not control.
JurisdictionCapitalChineseCapital sinceLand area(km²)Population(2020)Urban areapopulation (2020)SymbolSeatMap Anhui Hefei 合肥市 1853 11,434 9,369,881 5,118,199 Shushan Beijing Beijing 北京市 1927 16,801 21,893,095 21,893,095 Tongzhou Chongqing Chongqing 重庆市 1927 82,401 32,054,159 22,251,500 Yuzhong Fujian Fuzhou 福州市 1278 12,177 8,291,268 4,094,491 Gulou Gansu Lanzhou 兰州市 1667 13,300 4,359,446 3,072,100 Chengguan Guangdong Guangzhou 广州市 1369 7,434 18,676,605 16,492,590 Yuexiu Guangxi Nanning 南宁市 1912 22,189 8,741,584 5,977,185 Qingxiu Guizhou Guiyang 贵阳市 1413 8,034 5,987,018 4,506,134 Guanshanhu Hainan Haikou 海口市 1988 2,237 2,046,189 2,046,189 Xiuying Hebei Shijiazhuang 石家庄市 1968 15,722 11,235,086 4,717,198 Chang'an Heilongjiang Harbin 哈尔滨市 1949 53,100 10,009,854 7,152,381 Songbei Henan Zhengzhou 郑州市 1954 7,507 12,600,574 6,650,532 Zhongyuan Hong Kong Hong Kong 香港特别行政区 1997 1,104 7,481,800 7,481,800 Central & Western Hubei Wuhan 武汉市 1927 8,494 12,326,500 12,326,500 Jiang'an Hunan Changsha 长沙市 1664 11,819 10,047,914 6,242,453 Yuelu Inner Mongolia Hohhot 呼和浩特市 1952 17,224 3,446,100 2,681,758 Xincheng Jiangsu Nanjing 南京市 1952 6,598 9,314,685 9,314,685 Xuanwu Jiangxi Nanchang 南昌市 1277 7,372 6,255,007 3,929,660 Honggutan Jilin Changchun 长春市 1954 20,532 9,066,906 5,691,024 Nanguan Liaoning Shenyang 沈阳市 1662 12,942 9,070,093 7,885,142 Hunnan Macau Macau 澳门特别行政区 1999 29 683,100 683,100 São Lourenço Ningxia Yinchuan 银川市 1928 4,467 2,859,074 1,901,793 Jinfeng Qinghai Xining 西宁市 1928 7,372 2,467,965 1,954,795 Chengzhong Shaanxi Xi'an 西安市 1286 9,983 12,952,907 11,904,805 Weiyang Shandong Jinan 济南市 1377 8,177 9,202,432 8,352,574 Lixia Shanghai Shanghai 上海市 1927 6,340 24,870,895 24,870,895 Huangpu Shanxi Taiyuan 太原市 1369 6,959 5,305,061 4,529,141 Xinghualing Sichuan Chengdu 成都市 1286 12,132 20,937,757 15,419,445 Wuhou Tianjin Tianjin 天津市 1927 11,760 13,866,009 10,932,000 Hexi Tibet Lhasa 拉萨市 1642 29,274 867,891 648,044 Chengguan Xinjiang Ürümqi 乌鲁木齐市 1884 14,577 3,112,559 3,029,372 Tianshan Yunnan Kunming 昆明市 1275 21,473 8,460,088 5,604,310 Chenggong Zhejiang Hangzhou 杭州市 1367 16,847 11,936,010 10,711,238 Jianggan
Sub-provincial cities that are not themselves provincial capitals Sub-provincial cities have a status that is below that of the municipalities, which are independent and equivalent to provinces, but above other, regular prefecture-level cities, which are completely ruled by their respective provinces. However, these sub-provincial cities are marked the same as other provincial capitals (or a prefecture-level city if the city is not a provincial capital) on almost all maps.
In total, there are five sub-provincial cities that are not themselves provincial capitals. These five cities have been designated as "Cities with Independent Planning Status" ().
List of the Cities with Independent Planning Status JurisdictionCityChineseDesignationLand area (km²)Population (2010)Urban areapopulation (2010)SymbolSeatMap Fujian Xiamen 厦门市 1988 1,699 3,531,347 3,119,110 Siming Guangdong Shenzhen 深圳市 1988 2,050 10,358,381 10,358,381 Futian Liaoning Dalian 大连市 1984 13,237 8,106,171 4,222,409 Xigang Shandong Qingdao 青岛市 1986 11,026 8,715,087 4,556,077 Shinan Zhejiang Ningbo 宁波市 1987 9,816 7,605,689 2,823,065 Yinzhou
With the exception of Fuzhou, the provincial capital of Fujian Province, the provincial capitals of the other four provinces listed above – Guangzhou, Shenyang, Jinan, and Hangzhou – are themselves sub-provincial cities. Before 1997, when Chongqing was a sub-provincial city of Sichuan Province, provincial capital Chengdu was also a sub-provincial city.
See also
List of former capitals of China List of former capitals of Chinese provinces List of cities in China List of cities in China by population