Provinces Autonomous regions Sub-provincial autonomous prefectures Autonomous prefectures Leagues (Aimag) (abolishing) Prefectures Provincial-controlled cities Provincial-controlled counties Autonomous counties County-level cities DistrictsEthnic districts Banners (Hoxu)Autonomous banners Shennongjia Forestry District Liuzhi Special District Wolong Special Administrative Region Workers and peasants districts Ethnic townships Towns Subdistricts Subdistrict bureaux Sum Ethnic sum County-controlled districts County-controlled district bureaux (obsolete) Management committees Town-level city Areas Villages · Gaqa · Ranches Village Committees Communities Capital cities New areas Autonomous administrative divisions National central cities History: before 1912, 1912–49, 1949–present China is officially divided into 339 prefecture-level divisions, which rank below provinces and above counties as the second-level administrative division in the country.

Modern prefectures emerged out of successive attempts by Yuan Shikai and later the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China to abolish the second level of administrative divisions.

[1] Chinese provinces are relatively large by international standards, and provincial administrations have difficulty administering counties without an intermediary level of government.

[6] As with other levels of Chinese government, the People's Congress can adopt local regulations and elects a standing committee to exercise its powers when not in session.

[8][6] Unlike other prefecture-level divisions, autonomous prefectures are a formal part of the Chinese administrative structure.