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Home»Life in China»Provinces of China (population, GDP, cities) -[Updated in 2023]
provinces of china
Life in China

Provinces of China (population, GDP, cities) -[Updated in 2023]

Vic-LiuBy Vic-LiuFebruary 4, 2022Updated:August 5, 2023No Comments8 Mins Read
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In China, the highest-level administrative division is the provincial-level administrative divisions (省級行政區), being classified 4 different types of divisions.

  • provinces (省)
  • autonomous regions (自治區)
  • municipalities (自治市)
  • special administrative regions (特別行政區)
Table of Contents
  • Provinces of China map
  • How many provinces make up China?
    • About China’s autonomous regions
    • About China’s municipalities
    • About China’s SARs (special administrative regions)
    • About Taiwan status
  • Provinces of China by population
    • China provinces ranked by population: 2021
  • Provinces of China by GPD
    • China provinces ranked by GDP: 2021

Provinces of China map

Provinces of China map

How many provinces make up China?

There are 34 provincial-level administrative divisions in China nowadays. Including:

  • 23 provinces in China (if Taiwan is included)
  • 5 autonomous regions in China (Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Tibet)
  • 4 municipalities in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Tianjin)
  • 2 special administrative regions in China (Hong Kong, Macau)
Provinces / SARsCapitalType of division
Guangdong (廣東)GuangzhouProvince
Jiangsu (江蘇)NanjingProvince
Shandong(山東)JinanProvince
Zhejiang(浙江)HangzhouProvince
Henan(河南)ZhengzhouProvince
Sichuan(四川)ChengduProvince
Hubei(湖北)WuhanProvince
Fujian(福建)FuzhouProvince
Hunan(湖南)ChangshaProvince
Anhui(安徽)HefeiProvince
Hebei(河北)ShijiazhuangProvince
Shaanxi(陝西)Xi’anProvince
Jiangxi(江西)NanchangProvince
Liaoning(遼寧)ShenyangProvince
Yunnan(雲南)KunmingProvince
Shanxi(山西)TaiyuanProvince
Guizhou(貴州)GuiyangProvince
Heilongjiang(黑龍江)HarbinProvince
Jilin(吉林)ChangchunProvince
Gansu(甘肅)LanzhouProvince
Hainan(海南)HaikouProvince
Qinghai(青海)XiningProvince
Guangxi(廣西)NanningAutonomous region
Inner Mongolia (內蒙古)HohhotAutonomous region
Ningxia(寧夏)YinchuanAutonomous region
Xinjiang(新疆)UrumqiAutonomous region
Tibet(西藏)LhasaAutonomous region
Shanghai(上海)ShanghaiMunicipalities
Chongqing(重慶)ChongqingMunicipalities
Beijing(北京)BeijingMunicipalities
Tianjin(天津)TianjinMunicipalities
Hong Kong(香港)Hong KongSAR (special administrative regions)
Macau(澳門)MacauSAR (special administrative regions)

About China’s autonomous regions

Just like Chinese provinces, the autonomous region (Chinese: 自治區) is the highest-level administrative division of China and has its own local government. But under Chinese law, an autonomous region has even more legislative rights, such as the right to formulate self-government regulations, other separate regulations, etc.

Since the autonomous regions are the highest level of minority autonomous entity in China, it normally has a comparably much higher population of a particular minority ethnic group.

How many autonomous regions are in China?

There 5 autonomous regions in China currently, are Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Xinjiang, and Tibet.

Division nameChineseAbbreviationCapital
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region廣西壯族自治區桂 Guì (GZAR)Nanning (南宁; Nanzningz)
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region內蒙古自治區内蒙古 Nèi Měnggǔ (IMAR)Hohhot (呼和浩特; ᠬᠥᠬᠡᠬᠣᠲᠠ)
Tibet Autonomous Region西藏自治區藏 Zàng (TAR)Lhasa (拉萨; ལྷ་ས།)
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region新疆維吾爾自治區新 Xīn (XUAR)Ürümqi (乌鲁木齐; ئۈرۈمچی)
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region寧夏回族自治區宁 Níng (NHAR)Yinchuan (银川)

About China’s municipalities

A municipality (Chinese: 直轄市), commonly known as the direct-administrated municipality, is the highest level of classification for cities used by China. Unlike other regular cities, these cities have the same rank as provinces and form part of the first tier of administrative divisions of China.

If a city is classified by a municipality, it means this city will have the “provincial” power under a unified jurisdiction, which is simultaneously a city and a province.

So, next time, if you’re asked what province is Shanghai in, you can just answer that Shanghai is a municipality.

How many municipalities are in China?

There 4 municipalities in China currently, are Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing.

Division nameChineseHanyu PinyinAbbr.PopulationArea (km²)
Beijing北京市Běijīng Shì京 jīng19,612,36816,801
Tianjin天津市Tiānjīn Shì津 jīn12,938,22411,760
Shanghai上海市Shànghǎi Shì沪 hù23,019,1486,340
Chongqing重慶市Chóngqìng Shì渝 yú28,846,17082,300

About China’s SARs (special administrative regions)

Another type of provincial-level administrative division we have to mention is the Special Administrative Regions (Chinese: 特別行政區), which is directly under the control of the Central People’s Government.

As a region, these regions possess the highest degree of autonomy from China. However, despite the relative autonomy, the National People’s Congress remains capable of enforcing laws for the special administrative regions in certain situations.

How many SARs (special administrative regions) are in China?

At present, there are two SARs established according to the Constitution, namely the Hong Kong SAR and the Macau SAR, former British and Portuguese dependencies, respectively.

NameChineseHanyu PinyinPopulationArea (km²)
Hong Kong香港Xiānggǎng7,184,0001,104.4
Macau澳門Àomén614,50031.3

About Taiwan status

The political status of Taiwan Province along with a small fraction of Fujian Province remain in dispute; those are under separate rule by the Republic of China, which is usually referred to as “Taiwan”.

Regarding the case of Taiwan, its political status of it remains in dispute. Let me tell you a bit of the context. At the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, the Communists held most of China, and the Nationalists were defeated and held only Taiwan, the Pescadores, and a few islands in the South China Sea. After that, the Communists founded “The People’s Republic of China” and Nationalists regained control of Taiwan.

This situation has continued for over 60 years. During the time, the People’s Republic of China kept recognizing Taiwan as one of their provinces while Taiwan was claiming independence from China. In fact, Taiwan acts as a separate country in many ways. For example, Taiwan owns its visas, currency, and a separate government and political system.

Provinces of China by population

The census results were released on the morning of May 11. According to the data, by 2020, China’s population has a total of 141.178 million, which is an increase compared with the total number of people in the sixth census.

So, what is the total population of each province? Where is the most populous province? Now let’s sort out the population ranking table in 2021 as follows:

1. Guangdong Province

Guangdong Province has a total population of 126,012,510, an increase of 21,709,378 compared with the sixth national census in 2010. Males accounted for 53.07% and females accounted for 46.93%.

2. Shandong Province

Shandong Province has a total population of 101,527,453, an increase of 5,734,388 compared with the sixth national census in 2010. Men accounted for 50.66% and women 49.34%.

3. Henan Province

Henan Province has a total population of 99,365,519, an increase of 5,341,952 compared with the sixth national census in 2010. Men accounted for 51.16% and women 48.84%.

4. Jiangsu Province

Jiangsu Province has a total population of 84,748,016, an increase of 6,088,113 compared with the sixth national census in 2010. Men accounted for 50.78% and women 49.22%.

5. Sichuan Province

Sichuan Province has a total population of 83,674,866. Compared with the results of the sixth census in 2010, the number of permanent residents in Sichuan has increased by 3,256,666. The male population accounts for 50.54% and the female population accounts for 49.46%.

6. Hebei Province

Hebei Province has a total population of 74,610,235, a decrease of 0.08% compared with the results of the sixth census in 2010. In terms of the proportion of men and women, men accounted for 50.50% and women 49.50%.

7. Hunan Province

It is Hunan Province, with a total population of 66,444,864. Compared with the data of the sixth national census in 2010, the permanent resident population increased by 761,000. Men accounted for 51.16% and women accounted for 48.84%, down 1.04 percentage points from a decade ago, and the proportion of men and women became more balanced.

8. Zhejiang Province

Zhejiang Province has a total population of 64,567,588, accounting for 4.57% of the national population, an increase of 0.51% over 2010. In terms of the proportion of men and women, men accounted for 52.16% and women 47.84%.

9. Anhui Province

Anhui Province has a total population of 6,102,7171, of which 50.97% are men and 49.03% are women. The proportion of people aged 0-14 is 19.24%, the proportion of people aged 15-59 is 61.96%, the proportion of people aged 60 and over is 18.79%, and the proportion of people aged 65 and over is 15.01%.

10. Hubei Province

Hubei Province has a total population of 57,752,557, a negative 0.18% compared with the data of the sixth national census in 2010. Men accounted for 51.42% and women 48.58%.

China provinces ranked by population: 2021

Provinces / SARsPopulation
Guangdong126,012,510
Shandong101,527,453
Henan99,365,519
Sichuan83,674,866
Jiangsu84,748,016
Hebei74,610,235
Hunan66,444,864
Anhui61,027,171
Hubei57,752,557
Zhejiang64,567,588
Guangxi50,126,804
Yunnan47,209,277
Jiangxi45,188,635
Liaoning42,591,407
Fujian41,540,086
Shaanxi39,528,999
Heilongjiang31,850,088
Shanxi34,915,616
Guizhou38,562,148
Chongqing32,054,159
Jilin24,073,453
Gansu25,019,831
Inner Mongolia24,049,155
Shanghai24,870,895
Xinjiang25,852,345
Beijing21,893,095
Tianjin13,866,009
Hainan10,081,232
Hong Kong7,474,200
Ningxia7,202,654
Qinghai5,923,957
Tibet3,648,100
Macau Macau683,218

Provinces of China by GPD

With the release of economic data of Jilin and Hebei in 2021 on January 25, the economic data of all provinces in China have been released.

In terms of the total amount, many provinces, including Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Zhejiang, have stepped up the new trillion level threshold.

In terms of growth rate, with policy advantages and resource endowment, Hainan and Shanxi became the leaders last year, while Shaanxi and Henan were affected by the flood and epidemic situation at the same time, and their economic development was impacted.

In terms of economic aggregate, in 2021, many provinces crossed the new trillion threshold. Among them, Guangdong’s GDP exceeded 12 trillion yuan; Jiangsu, Shandong, and Zhejiang exceeded 11 trillion yuan, 8 trillion yuan, and 7 trillion yuan respectively; Sichuan and Hubei have crossed the threshold of 5 trillion yuan; Shanghai, Anhui, Hebei, and Beijing have crossed the threshold of 4 trillion yuan; Shaanxi and Jiangxi have not yet crossed 3 trillion, resulting in a 3 trillion gap in 2021.

In terms of the ranking of economic aggregate, there are changes in multiple provinces under the overall stability. Hubei, which recovered from the epidemic, surpassed Fujian and returned to seventh place; Chongqing surpassed Liaoning and ranked 16th; Shanxi and Inner Mongolia surpassed Guizhou, ranking 20th and 21st respectively. This reflects the regional characteristics of economic operation in 2021.

In terms of growth rate, Hubei, Hainan, and Shanxi became the top three provinces with growth rates of 12.9%, 11.2%, and 9.1% respectively.

From the two-year average growth rate, Hainan, Shanxi, Guizhou, and Jiangxi ranked the top three respectively, with growth rates of 7.3%, 6.3%, 6.3%, and 6.2% respectively. However, due to the particularity of Hubei, Hainan will become the national substantive leader in 2021.

China provinces ranked by GDP: 2021

ProvincesGDP (CN¥)Normal GDP (US$)
Guangdong12,369.671,947.15
Jiangsu11,636.421,831.73
Shandong8,309.591,308.04
Zhejiang7,351.581,157.23
Henan5,888.74926.97
Sichuan5,385.08847.68
Hubei5,001.29787.27
Fujian4,881.04768.34
Hunan4,606.31725.09
Anhui4,295.92676.23
Hebei4,039.13635.81
Shaanxi2,980.09469.11
Jiangxi2,961.97466.25
Liaoning2,758.41434.21
Yunnan2,714.68427.33
Shanxi2,259.02355.6
Guizhou1,958.64308.32
Heilongjiang1,487.92234.22
Jilin1,323.56208.35
Gansu1.024.33161.24
Hainan647.52101.92
Qinghai334.6652.68
Guangxi2,474.09389.45
Inner Mongolia2,051.42322.92
Ningxia452.2371.19
Xinjiang1,598.37251.6
Tibet208.0232.75
Shanghai4,321.48680.27
Chongqing2,789.40439.09
Beijing4,026.96633.9
Tianjin1,569.51247.06
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