A direct-administered municipality (; municipality), constitutionally known as city directly under central government jurisdiction, is a provincial-level administrative division and province equivalent in China. The municipalities are directly affiliated with the central government of China. Although a city by name, a Chinese municipality is more than a city in a traditional sense: it is a province equivalent, and it is composed of a central urban area and a number of much larger surrounding suburban and rural areas. There are four such municipalities in China: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Tianjin.

History During the Republic of China, 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. 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 control. These cities were first called special municipalities/cities (), but were later renamed Yuan-controlled municipalities (), then direct-controlled municipalities () by the Central Government of the People's Republic of China.

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. Hankou was merged into Wuhan, which became a municipality of its own. Hence, there remained 12 municipalities. In November 1952, Nanjing was reduced to a provincial municipality in Jiangsu. In March 1953, Lüda, which had resulted from the merger of Dalian and Lüshun in December 1950, was made a municipality. In July 1953, Harbin was restored to municipality status, whereas Changchun acquired that status for the first time. 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 as a municipality in 1997 with a much enlarged area. Tianjin was also temporarily reverted to sub-provincial city status between 1958 and 1967.

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:

Municipalities (); Prefecture-level cities (), including sub-provincial cities; and, County-level cities (), including sub-prefectural 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) and deputy secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Municipal Committee. However, the highest administrative authority in the municipality belongs to the Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary.

Current municipalities ISO 3166-2:CN (ISO 3166-2 codes for the provinces of China) CN-11 Beijing 19,612,368 16,801 List Tongzhou Hebei Shuntian Daxing CN-12 Tianjin 12,938,224 11,760 List Hexi Hebei Tianjin Tianjin CN-31 Shanghai 23,019,148 6,340 List Huangpu Jiangsu Songjiang Shanghai CN-50 Chongqing 28,846,170 82,300 List Yuzhong Sichuan Chongqing Ba

Government NameCommunist PartyExecutiveLegislatureAdvisoryParty CommitteeParty SecretaryGovernmentMayorCity CouncilNo. of seatsCPPCC CommitteeChairBeijingBeijing Municipal Party CommitteeYin LiBeijing Municipal People's GovernmentYin YongBeijing Municipal People's Congress755Beijing Municipal CommitteeWei XiaodongTianjinTianjin Municipal Party CommitteeChen Min'erTianjin Municipal People's GovernmentZhang GongTianjin Municipal People's Congress706Tianjin Municipal CommitteeWang ChangsongShanghaiShanghai Municipal Party CommitteeChen JiningShanghai Municipal People's GovernmentGong ZhengShanghai Municipal People's Congress855Shanghai Municipal CommitteeHu WenrongChongqingChongqing Municipal Party CommitteeYuan JiajunChongqing Municipal People's GovernmentHu HenghuaChongqing Municipal People's Congress860Chongqing Municipal CommitteeCheng Lihua

Former ROC and PRC municipalities Jingdu Dongcheng 1921–1927 Zhili Shuntian Daxing Jingu Heping 1921–1927 Zhili Tianjin Tianjin Songhu Huangpu 1921–1927 Jiangsu Songjiang Shanghai Qingdao Shinan 1921–1927, 1929–1949 Shandong Jiaozhou Jiao Harbin Nangang 1921–1927, 1947–1949, 1953–1954 Songjiang Binzhou Bin Hankou Hànkǒu Shì Jiang'an 1921–1927, 1929–1931, 1947–1949 Hubei Hanyang Hanyang Wuxi Binhu 1921–1927 Jiangsu Changzhou Wuxi Hangzhou Gongshu 1921–1927 Zhejiang Hangzhou Yuhang Ningbo Yinzhou 1921–1927 Zhejiang Ningbo Yin Anqing Daguan 1921–1927 Anhui Anqing Huaining Nanchang Donghu 1921–1927 Jiangxi Nanchang Nanchang Wuchang Wuchang 1921–1927 Hubei Wuchang Jiangxia Guangzhou Yuexiu 1921–1927, 1930, 1947–1954 Guangdong Guangzhou PanyuNanhai Wuzhou Changzhou 1921–1927 Guangxi Wuzhou Cangwu Nanjing Xuanwu 1927–1952 Jiangsu Jiangning Jiangning Xi'an Weiyang 1927–1954 Shaanxi Xi'an Chang'an Wuhan Jiang'an 1927–1929, 1949 Hubei HanyangWuchang HanyangJiangxia Beiping Dongcheng 1928–1949 Zhili Shuntian Daxing Dalian Xigang 1947–1949 Andong/Liaodong Jinzhou Ninghai Shenyang Shenhe 1947–1954 Liaoxi Fengtian Fengtian Anshan Tiedong 1949–1954 Andong/Liaodong Liaoyang HaichengLiaoyang Benxi Pingshan 1949–1954 Andong/Liaodong Fengtian Benxi Fushun Xinfu 1949–1954 Andong/Liaodong Fengtian Fushun Lüda Xigang 1950–1954 Lüda Jinzhou Ninghai Changchun Nanguan 1953–1954 Jilin Changchun Changchun

See also Independent city Special municipality (Taiwan) Special cities of North Korea List of provincial-level cities of South Korea Municipalities of Vietnam Federal city Federal cities of Russia — similar systems Imperial immediacy

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