China Administrative Divisions

China is divided into 4 municipalities (直辖市), 22 provinces (省), 5 autonomous regions (自治区), and 3 special regions (特别行政区), which form the top-level administrative units. These are subdivided into 7 prefectures (地区), 293 prefecture cities (地级市), 31 autonomous prefectures (自治州), and 6 other units across 2 types. At the next level, there are 1,135 districts (市辖区), 1,323 counties (县), 398 county cities (县级市), and 176 other units across 6 types. The smallest administrative level consists of 7,963 subdistricts (街道), 20,329 townships (乡), and 33,928 towns (镇). Major municipalities include Anhui, Beijing, and Chongqing.

China has 4 administrative levels. Level 1: 4 municipalities (直辖市), 22 provinces (省), 5 autonomous regions (自治区), and 3 special regions (特别行政区). Level 2: 7 prefectures (地区), 293 prefecture cities (地级市), 31 autonomous prefectures (自治州), and 6 other units across 2 types. Level 3: 1,135 districts (市辖区), 1,323 counties (县), 398 county cities (县级市), and 176 other units across 6 types. Level 4: 7,963 subdistricts (街道), 20,329 townships (乡), and 33,928 towns (镇).

China’s administrative system is organized into four main levels. At the top are the provincial-level divisions, which include provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, and special administrative regions. Each provincial-level division is subdivided into prefecture-level divisions, such as prefecture-level cities, prefectures, autonomous prefectures, and leagues. These are further divided into county-level divisions, including counties, autonomous counties, county-level cities, districts, and banners. The lowest level consists of township-level divisions, such as towns, townships, ethnic townships, and subdistricts, which are the smallest administrative units in China. Note that Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, and 1 others do not have sub-divisions at the next level.

In China, municipalities and provinces both sit at administrative level 1 but serve different functions. Municipalities (直辖市) — there are 4 — are typically a larger city or urban area that govern itself independently. Provinces (省) — there are 22 — group multiple smaller municipalities under a shared administration.

Chinese administrative divisions have specific local names at each level. In Chinese, municipalities are called 直辖市; provinces are called 省; autonomous regions are called 自治区; special regions are called 特别行政区; prefectures are called 地区; prefecture cities are called 地级市; autonomous prefectures are called 自治州; leagues are called 盟; provincial counties are called 省级直辖县级架构; districts are called 市辖区; counties are called 县; county cities are called 县级市; autonomous counties are called 自治县; banners are called 旗; autonomous banners are called 自治旗; ethnic districts are called 民族区; special districts are called 特区; forestry area are called 林区; subdistricts are called 街道; townships are called 乡; towns are called 镇. These local-language terms appear in official documents, legal records, and government databases, so matching them correctly is important for data integration and compliance.

Administrative boundaries in China change as governments reorganize regions, merge municipalities, or create new administrative units to reflect population shifts and political decisions. Changes most commonly affect the subdistricts level, where China currently has 62,220 units. Businesses that rely on Chinese administrative data should use a regularly updated reference dataset to avoid mismatches in geocoding, tax jurisdiction mapping, and compliance reporting.