A sub-prefectural municipality (), sub-prefectural city, or vice-prefectural municipality, is an unofficial designation for a type of administrative division of China. A sub-prefectural city is officially considered to be a

county-level city A county-level city () is a County-level divisions of China, county-level administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China. County-level cities have judiciary, judicial but no legislature, legislative rights over their own local or ...

, but it has more power ''de facto'' because the cadres assigned to its government are one half-level higher in rank than those of an "ordinary" county-level city—though still lower than those of a

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province of China, province and above a Counties of the People's Republic of China, county in China's ...

. While county-level cities are under the administrative jurisdiction of prefecture-level divisions, sub-prefectural cities are often (but not always) administered directly by the provincial government, with no intervening prefecture level administration. Examples of sub-prefectural cities that does not belong to any prefecture:

Jiyuan Jiyuan ( zh, s= , t=濟源 , p=Jìyuán) is a sub-prefecture-level city in northwestern Henan province, People's Republic of China. It borders the prefecture-level cities of Jiaozuo and Luoyang to the east and southwest respectively, as well as ...

(

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

Province), Xiantao, Qianjiang and Tianmen (

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

), Shihezi, Tumxuk, Aral, and Wujiaqu (

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

). Examples of sub-prefectural cities that nevertheless belong to a prefecture:

Golmud Golmud, also known by various other romanizations, is a county-level city in the Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province, China. It is now the second-largest city in Qinghai and the third largest in the Tibetan P ...

( Haixi,

Qinghai Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...

), Manzhouli ( Hulunbuir,

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

List of sub-prefectural divisions

:Note: Bold not under any prefecture-level subordination.

Guangdong

* Gaozhou * Lufeng *

Luoding Luoding, is a county-level city in the northwestern part of Guangdong province (粤北), South China. It is administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Yunfu. History As early as 10,000 years ago, there were ancient people inhabited w ...

* Nanxiong * Puning * Yangchun *

Yingde Yingde (Postal romanization, postal: Yingtak; ) is a historical city in the north of Guangdong Province, China. The city is on the Bei River, a tributary of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River. Administratively, it is part of the Qingyuan, Guan ...

Guizhou

Renhuai Renhuai () is a county-level city located in the north of Guizhou province, China, bordering Sichuan province to the west. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zunyi. The city is served by Zunyi Maotai Airport. Administr ...

Hainan

* Dongfang *

Qionghai Qionghai, also called Keng Hai, is a County-level city, county-level city in Hainan, China. It is located in the east of Hainan Island. Kachek city was the capital of Keng Hai. Kachek city was 2nd largest city in Hainan island. Previous counties ...

* Wanning * Wenchang * Wuzhishan

Hebei

* Dingzhou * Qian'an * Xinji

Heilongjiang

* Suifenhe

Henan

* Dengzhou *

Gongyi Gongyi (), formerly Gong County (), is a county-level city of Henan, Henan Province, South Central China, South Central China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhengzhou. It has a population of 790,000 people and an a ...

* Ruzhou * Yongcheng

Hubei

* Qianjiang * Tianmen * Xiantao

Hunan

* Shaoshan

Inner Mongolia

* Erenhot * Manzhouli

Jiangsu

Kunshan Kunshan is a county-level city in southeastern Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu province with Shanghai bordering its eastern border and Suzhou on its western boundary. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suzhou. Name Th ...

* Taixing

Jiangxi

* Fengcheng * Gongqingcheng * Ruijin

Jilin

* Gongzhuling * Meihekou

Qinghai

Shaanxi

* Hancheng

Xinjiang

:Note: all cities are also under the subordination of the Prefecture-level Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC or Bingtuan). * Aral * Baiyang * Beitun * Huyanghe * Kokdala * Kunyu * Shihezi * Shuanghe * Tiemenguan * Tumxuk * Wujiaqu * Xinxing

Zhejiang

* Yiwu

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sub-Prefectural City Administrative divisions of China *Sub County-level divisions of the People's Republic of China