China's political system

  Local Administrative System

  The local administrative system is a system and convention where the state divides administrative regions and establishes local governing bodies for the convenience of administrative management.

  I. Administrative Division

  Administrative Division

  China's administrative divisions are:

  The country is divided into provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government.

  3. Counties and autonomous counties are divided into townships, ethnic townships and towns;

  5. Autonomous prefectures are divided into counties, autonomous counties and cities.

  The Central Government may establish special administrative regions.

  Administrative divisions of China by level

  Second-level administrative divisions: Municipality directly under the Central Government — District

  Province, Autonomous Region, Municipality — County, Autonomous County, City — Township, Ethnic Township, Town

  Fourth-level administrative divisions: Province, Autonomous Region, Municipality - Prefecture-level city, Autonomous prefecture - County, Autonomous county, City - Township, Ethnic township, Town.

  Types of Local Governments

  General administrative local government

  Including: People's congresses, governments, courts and procuratorates established at the provincial, autonomous municipal, county, city, municipal district, township, ethnic township and town levels.

  (2) Autonomous organs of ethnic autonomous areas

  People's governments of autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures and autonomous counties; people's courts and people's procuratorates produced by the people's congresses of autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures and autonomous counties; armed forces for maintaining local public order as approved by the State Council.

  The local government of Special Administrative Region

  The system of government of a Special Administrative Region shall be prescribed by law by the National People's Congress.

  (4) Special forms of local government

  The administrative management organs of economic special zones, development zones, mining industrial zones, nature reserves and so on are different from those of general local governments.

  Three, Provincial Government

  Provincial Government

  The provincial government is the first-level local state administrative organ of China.

  There are 23 provinces nationwide.

  The provincial government must obey the unified command and leadership of the State Council. The State Council has the power to prescribe the specific division of functions and powers between the central and provincial state administrative organs, and has the power to issue or revoke decisions and orders made by the provincial government as appropriate.

  The provincial government executes the local regulations and resolutions formulated by the Provincial People's Congress and its Standing Committee, and is responsible to and reports its work to the Provincial People's Congress and its Standing Committee. The Provincial People's Congress and its Standing Committee have the power to supervise all aspects of the work of the provincial government, alter or annul inappropriate decisions and orders made by the provincial government.

  The provincial government has the power to uniformly lead the work of all levels of government within its jurisdiction, including municipalities, counties, townships and towns, and to uniformly administer administrative affairs such as economic, social and cultural construction within its jurisdiction.

  Provincial and autonomous regional government agencies

  The people's governments of provinces and autonomous regions may, when necessary, establish a number of agencies with the approval of the State Council.

  The established branch organs are generally called "Administrative Offices" (xing shu).

  Administrative offices are dispatched agencies of provincial and autonomous region governments, not primary governments. The areas they administer are also not primary administrative regions. Their basic responsibilities include representing the provincial and autonomous region governments in guiding and coordinating the work of subordinate counties and cities.

  The administrative office shall have one commissioner, one deputy commissioner and several consultants appointed by the provincial or autonomous regional government.

  The administrative bureau implements a system of commissioner responsibility.

  The Commissioner's Office is composed of the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioners, Advisors, Assistant Commissioners and Secretary-General. The Commissioner's Office Meeting discusses major issues in the work of the Commissioner's Office and makes final decisions by the Commissioner.

  Members of the office cannot be appointed for a fixed term, and personnel changes are made according to work needs and relevant regulations for cadres.

  The Ministry of Railways has set up a working body, generally referred to as a bureau, with around 40-50 in total.

  Four, Municipal Government

  Municipal government

  Municipal governments are first-level national administrative organs in China.

  There are four municipalities directly under the Central Government: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing.

  The municipal government must obey the unified command and leadership of the State Council. The State Council has the power to specify the division of powers between central and municipal state administrative organs, and has the power to issue or revoke decisions and orders made by the municipal government as appropriate.

  The municipal government executes the local regulations and resolutions made by the Municipal People's Congress and its Standing Committee, and is responsible to and reports its work to the Municipal People's Congress and its Standing Committee. The Municipal People's Congress and its Standing Committee have the power to supervise all aspects of the work of the municipal government, change or annul improper decisions and orders made by the municipal government.

  The municipal government has the power to uniformly lead the work of all levels of government within its jurisdiction, including districts, cities, counties, townships and towns, and to uniformly administer administrative affairs such as economic, social and cultural construction within its jurisdiction.

  Deputy provincial-level city government

  Sub-provincial city governments are larger, planned single-list cities that have developed from administrative units below the provincial government but are actually administratively not under the control of the provincial government. Currently there are: Shenyang, Dalian, Changchun, Harbin, Jinan, Qingdao, Nanjing, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xi'an and Chengdu 15 cities.

  Prefectural-level city government

  Prefectural-level cities are large and medium-sized cities, excluding municipalities directly under the Central Government and vice-provincial level cities. Generally, they have a non-agricultural population of over 250,000 in urban areas, with more than 200,000 people holding non-agricultural household registration in the city where the municipal government is located; an industrial output value of over RMB 2 billion; a well-developed tertiary industry, with its output value exceeding that of the primary industry and accounting for over 35% of the GDP; and local fiscal revenue of over RMB 200 million at the prefectural level, having become the central cities in certain municipalities and counties.

  The municipal government is responsible to and reports its work to the people's congress at the same level and its standing committee; it is responsible to and reports its work to the provincial-level government, while also being under the unified leadership of the State Council; it leads the economic, cultural construction and municipal administration of the entire city; it leads all administrative affairs within the administrative area, and leads the county and county-level city governments under its jurisdiction.

  The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may, in accordance with laws and administrative regulations of the State Council, formulate local rules.

  (4) Prefecture-level city administers counties and county-level cities

  The prefecture-level city manages the county, and the county-level city system is to establish a formal local state administrative organ between the province and the county, forming a provincial - prefecture-level city - county, county-level city - township (town) local administrative organization system.

  This system requires prefecture-level city governments to have dual functions of managing both rural and urban areas.

  The main modes include:

  Municipal merger.

  Merge the administrative offices of prefectures and the municipal governments of prefecture-level cities where they are located, to establish new municipal governments that administer counties and county-level cities.

  2. The county was converted into a city district.

  Assign a certain number of counties and county-level cities surrounding prefecture-level cities to the original non-county governing prefecture-level city, managed by the prefecture-level city government.

  3. Establishing prefectures and counties in cities.

  Upgrade county-level cities or towns to prefecture-level cities, or directly convert regional administrative offices into prefecture-level city government agencies, establish prefecture-level city governments, and manage counties and county-level cities.

  County-level city government

  A county-level city government is a municipal government established in smaller regions that meet national standards for establishing cities.

  County-level cities are generally established from county-affiliated towns or by abolishing counties and establishing cities, and generally have a strong agricultural administrative management color.

  The position of a county-level municipal government in the national administrative organization system can be roughly divided into the following three situations:

  1. In counties without area administrative offices, the county-level municipal government is directly under the leadership of the provincial or autonomous region government and is supervised and guided by the area administrative office.

  3. In the county-level city governments that implement the prefecture-level city management system, and in ethnic autonomous counties, they are under the leadership of the prefecture-level city government or the autonomous prefecture government.

  The county-level city government governs towns, ethnic minority townships and town governments, and can also set up street offices.

  District government

  The district government is a functional local government established in some areas of the city where the district is set up.

  District governments are established in municipalities directly under the Central Government, deputy provincial cities and prefecture-level cities.

  The district government is under the leadership of the municipal government, vice-provincial city government and prefecture-level city government.

  The district government is divided into urban and suburban governments according to the nature of the area under its jurisdiction.

  The municipal government is located in the city and is the grassroots government of the urban area. The municipal government can set up dispatched agencies - street offices.

  In the urban-rural fringe areas of cities, suburban governments are usually established. The suburban government governs towns, ethnic townships and township governments, and can also set up street offices.

  5. Rural area government

  County Government

  County government is a local government established in rural areas.

  The position of county governments in the national administrative organization system can be roughly divided into the following three situations:

  1. In counties without area administrative offices, the county government is directly under the leadership of the provincial or autonomous region government and is supervised and guided by the area administrative office.

  3. In prefecture-level cities that administer counties and county-level cities, as well as ethnic autonomous counties, the county governments are under the leadership of the prefecture-level city or autonomous prefecture government.

  The county government governs towns, ethnic townships and town governments, and can also set up street offices.

  The county government may, with the approval of the provincial, autonomous regional or municipal people's government, establish a number of district offices as its dispatched agencies.

  Township government, ethnic township government, town government

  Townships, ethnic townships and town governments are the grassroots local governments in rural areas.

  Townships, ethnic townships and towns are under the leadership of county, autonomous county, county-level city and district governments.