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)
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 / SARs | Capital | Type of division |
| Guangdong （廣東） | Guangzhou | Province |
| Jiangsu （江蘇） | Nanjing | Province |
| Shandong（山東） | Jinan | Province |
| Zhejiang（浙江） | Hangzhou | Province |
| Henan（河南） | Zhengzhou | Province |
| Sichuan（四川） | Chengdu | Province |
| Hubei（湖北） | Wuhan | Province |
| Fujian（福建） | Fuzhou | Province |
| Hunan（湖南） | Changsha | Province |
| Anhui（安徽） | Hefei | Province |
| Hebei（河北） | Shijiazhuang | Province |
| Shaanxi（陝西） | Xi’an | Province |
| Jiangxi（江西） | Nanchang | Province |
| Liaoning（遼寧） | Shenyang | Province |
| Yunnan（雲南） | Kunming | Province |
| Shanxi（山西） | Taiyuan | Province |
| Guizhou（貴州） | Guiyang | Province |
| Heilongjiang（黑龍江） | Harbin | Province |
| Jilin（吉林） | Changchun | Province |
| Gansu（甘肅） | Lanzhou | Province |
| Hainan（海南） | Haikou | Province |
| Qinghai（青海） | Xining | Province |
| Guangxi（廣西） | Nanning | Autonomous region |
| Inner Mongolia （內蒙古） | Hohhot | Autonomous region |
| Ningxia（寧夏） | Yinchuan | Autonomous region |
| Xinjiang（新疆） | Urumqi | Autonomous region |
| Tibet（西藏） | Lhasa | Autonomous region |
| Shanghai（上海） | Shanghai | Municipalities |
| Chongqing（重慶） | Chongqing | Municipalities |
| Beijing（北京） | Beijing | Municipalities |
| Tianjin（天津） | Tianjin | Municipalities |
| Hong Kong（香港） | Hong Kong | SAR (special administrative regions) |
| Macau（澳門） | Macau | SAR (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 name | Chinese | Abbreviation | Capital |
| 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 name | Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Abbr. | Population | Area (km²) |
| Beijing | 北京市 | Běijīng Shì | 京 jīng | 19,612,368 | 16,801 |
| Tianjin | 天津市 | Tiānjīn Shì | 津 jīn | 12,938,224 | 11,760 |
| Shanghai | 上海市 | Shànghǎi Shì | 沪 hù | 23,019,148 | 6,340 |
| Chongqing | 重慶市 | Chóngqìng Shì | 渝 yú | 28,846,170 | 82,300 |
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.
| Name | Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Population | Area (km²) |
| Hong Kong | 香港 | Xiānggǎng | 7,184,000 | 1,104.4 |
| Macau | 澳門 | Àomén | 614,500 | 31.3 |
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 / SARs | Population |
| Guangdong | 126,012,510 |
| Shandong | 101,527,453 |
| Henan | 99,365,519 |
| Sichuan | 83,674,866 |
| Jiangsu | 84,748,016 |
| Hebei | 74,610,235 |
| Hunan | 66,444,864 |
| Anhui | 61,027,171 |
| Hubei | 57,752,557 |
| Zhejiang | 64,567,588 |
| Guangxi | 50,126,804 |
| Yunnan | 47,209,277 |
| Jiangxi | 45,188,635 |
| Liaoning | 42,591,407 |
| Fujian | 41,540,086 |
| Shaanxi | 39,528,999 |
| Heilongjiang | 31,850,088 |
| Shanxi | 34,915,616 |
| Guizhou | 38,562,148 |
| Chongqing | 32,054,159 |
| Jilin | 24,073,453 |
| Gansu | 25,019,831 |
| Inner Mongolia | 24,049,155 |
| Shanghai | 24,870,895 |
| Xinjiang | 25,852,345 |
| Beijing | 21,893,095 |
| Tianjin | 13,866,009 |
| Hainan | 10,081,232 |
| Hong Kong | 7,474,200 |
| Ningxia | 7,202,654 |
| Qinghai | 5,923,957 |
| Tibet | 3,648,100 |
| Macau Macau | 683,218 |
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
| Provinces | GDP (CN¥) | Normal GDP (US$) |
| Guangdong | 12,369.67 | 1,947.15 |
| Jiangsu | 11,636.42 | 1,831.73 |
| Shandong | 8,309.59 | 1,308.04 |
| Zhejiang | 7,351.58 | 1,157.23 |
| Henan | 5,888.74 | 926.97 |
| Sichuan | 5,385.08 | 847.68 |
| Hubei | 5,001.29 | 787.27 |
| Fujian | 4,881.04 | 768.34 |
| Hunan | 4,606.31 | 725.09 |
| Anhui | 4,295.92 | 676.23 |
| Hebei | 4,039.13 | 635.81 |
| Shaanxi | 2,980.09 | 469.11 |
| Jiangxi | 2,961.97 | 466.25 |
| Liaoning | 2,758.41 | 434.21 |
| Yunnan | 2,714.68 | 427.33 |
| Shanxi | 2,259.02 | 355.6 |
| Guizhou | 1,958.64 | 308.32 |
| Heilongjiang | 1,487.92 | 234.22 |
| Jilin | 1,323.56 | 208.35 |
| Gansu | 1.024.33 | 161.24 |
| Hainan | 647.52 | 101.92 |
| Qinghai | 334.66 | 52.68 |
| Guangxi | 2,474.09 | 389.45 |
| Inner Mongolia | 2,051.42 | 322.92 |
| Ningxia | 452.23 | 71.19 |
| Xinjiang | 1,598.37 | 251.6 |
| Tibet | 208.02 | 32.75 |
| Shanghai | 4,321.48 | 680.27 |
| Chongqing | 2,789.40 | 439.09 |
| Beijing | 4,026.96 | 633.9 |
| Tianjin | 1,569.51 | 247.06 |
