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Administrative Division |
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| According
to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, the administrative
division of China is as follows: (1) The country is divided into provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government; (2) Provinces and autonomous regions are divided into autonomous prefectures, counties, autonomous counties and cities; and (3) Counties and autonomous counties are divided into townships, ethnic townships, and towns. Municipalities directly under the Central Government and other large cities are divided into districts and counties. Autonomous prefectures are divided into counties, autonomous counties and cities. All autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures and autonomous counties are ethnic autonomous areas. The state may establish special administrative regions when necessary. Currently, there are 34 provincial-level administrative areas in China–four municipalities directly under the Central Government, 23 provinces, five autonomous regions and two special administrative regions. Power Construction at Primary Levels Community construction In 2004, cities of various sizes throughout the country enhanced infrastructure construction of communities, improved their working mechanism and strengthened their self-government function. By the end of the year, there had been 174,000 urban community service facilities and 9,888 community service centers across the country. China had 80,017 urban residents committees (or community residents committees) at the end of 2004, an increase of 3,017, or 4 percent, over the previous year. There were 625,147 villagers committees, a decrease of 37,853, or 5.7 percent, from a year ago. Direct community election As of the latter half of 2003, direct election of community administrative organizations was carried out on a trial basis in all the capital cities and prefectural-level cities and some county-level cities in west China's 11 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, except Tibet. The Organic Law of the Urban Residents Committees, effective as of 1990, explicitly stipulates that members of a community residents committee shall be elected by all residents or household representatives of the community. However, direct election of community residents committees only began to be tried in some cities of the economically developed eastern region in the late 1990s. Restructuring at the primary level At the end of 2004, there were 37,334 towns and townships, comprising 19,883 towns, 343 less than in the previous year, and 17,451 townships, a decrease of 613. The year 2004 saw cancellation and merger of 956 towns and townships. Streamlining of primary-level administrative organizations has helped lighten the burden on farmers, accelerate the urbanization process and promote the development of rural economy. In 2004, there were 5,904 urban neighborhood committees nationwide, an increase of 153 over the previous year.
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