List of capitals in China

Administrative divisions of China
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Provincial level (1st) Municipalities Provinces Autonomous regions Special administrative regions
Sub-provincial level Sub-provincial cities Sub-provincial autonomous prefectures Sub-provincial city districts
Prefectural level (2nd) Prefectural cities Autonomous prefectures Leagues Prefectures (abolishing)
Sub-prefectural-level Sub-prefectural cities Provincial-controlled cities Provincial-controlled counties Provincial-controlled districts
County level (3rd) Counties Autonomous counties County-level cities Districts Ethnic districts Banners Autonomous banners Shennongjia Forestry District Liuzhi Special District Wolong Special Administrative Region Workers and peasants districts (obsolete)
Analogous county level units Management areas Management committee
Township level (4th) Townships Ethnic townships Towns Subdistricts Subdistrict bureaux Sums Ethnic sums County-controlled districts County-controlled district bureaux (obsolete) Management committees Town-level city (pilot)
Analogous township level units Management areas Management committee Areas Farms area, Prison area, University towns etc.
Village level (5th) informal (Grassroots Autonomous Organizations) Villages · Gaqas Village Committees Residential communities Residential Committees
Other Regions Capital cities New areas Autonomous administrative divisions National Central Cities Special Economic Zones
History: before 1912, 1912–49, 1949–present Administrative division codes

The scope of this list is limited to capitals of first-level administrative divisions such as provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, and special administrative regions also including sub-provincial cities which are governed by province but administered independently in many ways from a province.

Province capitals

Note: PRC claimed Taiwan and its capital in Taipei as one of its province which it does not control.

Jurisdiction	Capital	Chinese	Capital since	Land area (km²)	Population (2010)	Symbol	Seat	Most populous prefecture?
Anhui	Hefei	合肥市	1946	11,323	5,702,000	合	Shushan	Yes
Fujian	Fuzhou	福州市	1278	12,177	7,115,370	榕	Gulou	No
Gansu	Lanzhou	兰州市	1667	13,300	3,616,163	兰	Chengguan	Yes
Guangdong	Guangzhou	广州市	1369	7,434	12,700,800	穗	Yuexiu	Yes
Guizhou	Guiyang	贵阳市	1413	8,034	4,324,561	筑	Guanshanhu	No
Hainan	Haikou	海口市	1950	2,237	2,046,189	海	Xiuying	Yes
Hebei	Shijiazhuang	石家庄市	1968	15,722	10,163,788	石	Chang'an	No
Heilongjiang	Harbin	哈尔滨市	1949	53,100	10,635,971	哈	Songbei	Yes
Henan	Zhengzhou	郑州市	1954	7,507	8,626,505	郑	Zhongyuan	No
Hubei	Wuhan	武汉市	1927	8,494	9,785,392	汉	Jiang'an	Yes
Hunan	Changsha	长沙市	1664	11,819	7,044,118	长	Yuelu	No
Jiangsu	Nanjing	南京市	1952	6,598	8,004,680	宁	Xuanwu	No
Jiangxi	Nanchang	南昌市	1277	7,372	5,042,565	昌	Donghu	No
Jilin	Changchun	长春市	1954	20,532	7,677,089	春	Nanguan	Yes
Liaoning	Shenyang	沈阳市	1662	12,942	8,106,171	沈	Hunnan	Yes
Qinghai	Xining	西宁市	1928	7,372	2,208,708	长	Chengzhong	Yes
Shaanxi	Xi'an	西安市	1286	9,983	8,467,837	镐	Weiyang	Yes
Shandong	Jinan	济南市	1377	8,177	6,814,000	泉	Shizhong	No
Shanxi	Taiyuan	太原市	1369	6,959	4,201,591	并	Xinghualing	Yes
Sichuan	Chengdu	成都市	1286	12,132	14,047,625	泉	Wuhou	Yes
Yunnan	Kunming	昆明市	1275	21,473	6,432,000	昆	Chenggong	Yes
Zhejiang	Hangzhou	杭州市	1367	16,847	8,700,400	杭	Gongshu	No

Claimed Province

Jurisdiction	Capital	Chinese	Capital since	Land area (km²)	Population (2010)	Symbol	Seat	Most populous prefecture?	Map
Taiwan	Taipei	台北市	1887	—	—	北	—	—

Autonomous regions capitals

Jurisdiction	Capital	Chinese	Capital since	Land area (km²)	Population (2010)	Symbol	Seat	Most populous prefecture?
Guangxi	Nanning	南宁市	1912	22,189	6,661,600	榕	Qingxiu	Yes
Inner Mongolia	Hohhot	呼和浩特市	1952	17,224	2,866,615	呼	Xincheng	No
Ningxia	Yinchuan	银川市	1928	4,467	1,993,088	银	Jinfeng	Yes
Tibet	Lhasa	拉萨市	1642	29,274	559,423	萨	Chengguan	No
Xinjiang	Ürümqi	乌鲁木齐市	1884	14,577	3,110,280	乌	Tianshan	No

Other cities

Municipalities

Jurisdiction	City	Chinese	Designation	Land area (km²)	Population (2010)	Symbol	Seat
Beijing	Beijing	北京市	1927	16,801	19,612,368	京	Dongcheng & Tongzhou
Chongqing	Chongqing	重庆市	1927	82,401	28,846,170	渝	Yuzhong
Shanghai	Shanghai	上海市	1927	6,340	23,019,148	沪	Huangpu
Tianjin	Tianjin	天津市	1927	11,760	12,938,224	春	Hexi

Special administrative regions

Jurisdiction	City	Chinese	Designation	Land area (km²)	Population (2010)	Symbol	Seat	Map
Hong Kong	Hong Kong	香港特别行政区	1997	1,104	7,061,200	港	Central & Western
Macau	Macau	澳门特别行政区	1999	29	552,300	澳	São Lourenço

Sub-provincial cities that are not themselves provincial capital

Sub-provincial cities have status that is below that of municipalities, which are independent and equivalent to provinces, but above other, regular prefecture-level divisions, which are completely ruled by their provinces. However, they are marked as same as other provincial capitals (or prefecture-level city if not provincial capital) in almost all maps.

Also, the provincial capitals of these provinces listed below(Guangzhou, Shenyang, Jinan, Hangzhou) are themselves sub-provincial cities (even before 1997 when Chongqing is a sub-provincial city of Sichuan province, since Chengdu is sub-provincial) except Fuzhou, Fujian.

Jurisdiction	City	Chinese	Designation	Land area (km²)	Population (2010)	Symbol	Seat
Fujian	Xiamen	厦门市	1988	1,699	3,531,347	杭	Siming
Guangdong	Shenzhen	深圳市	1988	2,050	10,357,938	深	Futian
Liaoning	Dalian	大连市	1984	13,237	6,690,432	连	Xigang
Shandong	Qingdao	青岛市	1986	11,026	8,715,100	银	Shinan
Zhejiang	Ningbo	宁波市	1987	9,816	7,605,700	甬	Jiangdong