Direct-administered municipality explained

Municipality
Current Number:	4 (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing)

A direct-administered municipality (; commonly known as municipality)^[1] is a city of China that is directly affiliated with the central government and is not placed under any provinces. There are four municipalities in China: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing.

Although being as a city by name, a municipality is more than a city in a traditional sense. It is usually composed of a central urban area and a number of much larger surrounding suburban and rural areas.

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 under the Republic of 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 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.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[4] 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:

1. Municipalities ;
2. Prefecture-level cities, including sub-provincial cities; and,
3. 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)^[5] 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

^[6]					^[7]
CN-11		Chinese: 北京市		Chinese: 京	19,612,368	16,801		Tongzhou	Hebei	Shuntian	Daxing
CN-12		Chinese: 天津市		Chinese: 津	12,938,224	11,760		Hexi	Hebei	Tianjin	Tianjin
CN-31		Chinese: 上海市		Chinese: 沪	23,019,148	6,340		Huangpu	Jiangsu	Songjiang	Shanghai
CN-50		Chinese: 重庆市		Chinese: 渝	28,846,170	82,300		Yuzhong	Sichuan	Chongqing	Ba

Government

Name	Communist Party		Executive		Legislature
	Party Committee	Party Secretary	Government	Mayor	City Council	No. of seats
Beijing	Beijing Municipal Party Committee	Yin Li	Beijing Municipal People's Government	Yin Yong	Beijing Municipal People's Congress	755
Tianjin	Tianjin Municipal Party Committee	Chen Min'er	Tianjin Municipal People's Government	Zhang Gong	Tianjin Municipal People's Congress	706
Shanghai	Shanghai Municipal Party Committee	Chen Jining	Shanghai Municipal People's Government	Gong Zheng	Shanghai Municipal People's Congress	855
Chongqing	Chongqing Municipal Party Committee	Yuan Jiajun	Chongqing Municipal People's Government	Hu Henghua	Chongqing Municipal People's Congress	860

Former ROC and PRC municipalities

	Chinese: 京都市		Chinese: 京	Dongcheng	1921–1927	Zhili	Shuntian	Daxing
	Chinese: 津沽市		Chinese: 津	Heping	1921–1927	Zhili	Tianjin	Tianjin
	Chinese: 淞沪市		Chinese: 沪	Huangpu	1921–1927	Jiangsu	Songjiang	Shanghai
	Chinese: 青岛市		Chinese: 青	Shinan	1921–1927, 1929–1949	Shandong	Jiaozhou	Jiao
Harbin	Chinese: 哈尔滨市		Chinese: 哈	Nangang	1921–1927, 1947–1949, 1953–1954	Songjiang	Binzhou	Bin
Hankou	Chinese: 汉口市	Hànkǒu Shì	Chinese: 汉	Jiang'an	1921–1927, 1929–1931, 1947–1949	Hubei	Hanyang	Hanyang
	Chinese: 无锡市		Chinese: 锡	Binhu	1921–1927	Jiangsu	Changzhou	Wuxi
	Chinese: 杭州市		Chinese: 杭	Gongshu	1921–1927	Zhejiang	Hangzhou	Yuhang
	Chinese: 宁波市		Chinese: 甬	Yinzhou	1921–1927	Zhejiang	Ningbo	Yin
	Chinese: 安庆市		Chinese: 安	Daguan	1921–1927	Anhui	Anqing	Huaining
	Chinese: 南昌市		Chinese: 洪	Donghu	1921–1927	Jiangxi	Nanchang	Nanchang
	Chinese: 武昌市		Chinese: 武	Wuchang	1921–1927	Hubei	Wuchang	Jiangxia
	Chinese: 广州市		Chinese: 穗	Yuexiu	1921–1927, 1930, 1947–1954	Guangdong	Guangzhou	Panyu Nanhai
	Chinese: 梧州市		Chinese: 梧	Changzhou	1921–1927	Guangxi	Wuzhou	Cangwu
	Chinese: 南京市		Chinese: 宁	Xuanwu	1927–1952	Jiangsu	Jiangning	Jiangning
	Chinese: 西安市		Chinese: 鎬	Weiyang	1927–1954	Shaanxi	Xi'an	Chang'an
Wuhan	Chinese: 武汉市		Chinese: 汉	Jiang'an	1927–1929, 1949	Hubei	Hanyang Wuchang	Hanyang Jiangxia
	Chinese: 北平市		Chinese: 平	Dongcheng	1928–1949	Zhili	Shuntian	Daxing
	Chinese: 大连市		Chinese: 连	Xigang	1947–1949	Andong/Liaodong	Jinzhou	Ninghai
	Chinese: 沈阳市		Chinese: 沈	Shenhe	1947–1954	Liaoxi	Fengtian	Fengtian
	Chinese: 鞍山市		Chinese: 鞍	Tiedong	1949–1954	Andong/Liaodong	Liaoyang	Haicheng Liaoyang
	Chinese: 本溪市		Chinese: 本	Pingshan	1949–1954	Andong/Liaodong	Fengtian	Benxi
Fushun	Chinese: 抚顺市		Chinese: 抚	Xinfu	1949–1954	Andong/Liaodong	Fengtian	Fushun
Lüda	Chinese: 旅大市		Chinese: 旅	Xigang	1950–1954	Lüda	Jinzhou	Ninghai
	Chinese: 长春市		Chinese: 春	Nanguan	1953–1954	Jilin	Changchun	Changchun

See also

• Independent city
• Federal city
  • Federal cities of Russia — similar systems
• Imperial immediacy

Notes and References

1. Web site: Administrative Division. Aug 26, 2014 . 2021-07-21. The State Council of the People's Republic of China .
2. Web site: dead . 中华人民共和国行政区划（1949年）. 2006-06-27 . xzqh.org.cn . https://web.archive.org/web/20090318203829/http://www.xzqh.org.cn/ONEWS_zq.asp?id=1071. March 18, 2009.
3. Web site: dead . 中华人民共和国行政区划（1952年） . 2006-06-27 . xzqh.org.cn . https://web.archive.org/web/20090318203843/http://www.xzqh.org.cn/ONEWS_zq.asp?id=1076. March 18, 2009.
4. Web site: dead . 中华人民共和国行政区划（1953年） . 2006-06-27 . xzqh.org.cn . https://web.archive.org/web/20090319162836/http://www.xzqh.org.cn/ONEWS_zq.asp?id=1077. March 19, 2009.
5. Web site: Chongqing Mayor: Government Must Place Service Above Anything Else . February 21, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081121052606/http://www.10thnpc.org.cn/english/government/57198.htm . November 21, 2008 . March 3, 2003. Xinhua News Agency .
6. [ISO 3166-2:CN]
7. Web site: 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 . July 19, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130115173048/http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/newsandcomingevents/t20110428_402722244.htm . January 15, 2013 .