Administrative division refers to the territorial partitioning implemented by a state for hierarchical governance. Friedrich Engels noted that one fundamental function of the state is to organize its citizens through territorial divisions. Emerging alongside the establishment of states, the delineation of administrative boundaries must consider multiple factors including political governance, economic development, ethnic composition, population distribution, national defense, and historical traditions. Once formed, these boundaries significantly influence governance and development both within and across regions, manifesting "spatial segmentation" and "spatial overlapping" effects. The former emphasizes the impact of rigid territorial partitioning on factor mobility, while the latter focuses on overlapping interests arising from multiple hierarchical authorities within the same area. The evolution of administrative divisions reflects developmental trends in human society. Consequently, related research spans multiple disciplines including geography, history, political science, public administration, economics, sociology, and cultural studies.
According to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, China's administrative divisions are structured at three levels: provincial-level divisions (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government), county-level divisions (autonomous counties, cities), and township-level divisions (ethnic townships, towns). However, in economically developed regions, to promote urban-rural integration and industrial-agricultural coordination while breaking down administrative barriers and leveraging dual urban-rural initiatives, a prefecture-administering-county system has been implemented. This adds a prefectural-level administrative tier between provinces and counties, creating a four-tier structure. Some autonomous regions also govern autonomous prefectures, which subsequently administer counties, similarly forming a four-tier system. Consequently, China's current administrative division system exhibits a coexistence of three-tier and four-tier hierarchical structures.
The CnOpenData team has developed China's Administrative Division Database, comprising three sub-tables: historical prefecture-level and above administrative divisions, historical sub-county administrative division changes, and historical provincial-city-county-township subdistrict and neighborhood committee divisions. The prefecture-level and above division table contains fields such as year, region code (地区编码), province (省份), prefecture-level city (地级市), county/district (区县), and county-level classification (县区级别). The sub-county administrative changes table additionally includes pre- and post-change township names/codes, reasons for changes, and official approval documents.
Data Features
- Provides not only prefecture-level and above administrative divisions but also detailed historical changes at subdistrict and neighborhood committee levels
- Precisely categorizes urban-rural classifications for each region:
- 111: Urban core area (主城区)
- 112: Urban-rural transition zone (城乡结合区)
- 121: Town core area (镇中心区)
- 122: Town-countryside transition zone (镇乡结合区)
- 123: Special zones (特殊区域)
- 210: Rural core area (乡中心区)
- 220: Villages (村庄)
Temporal Coverage
Prefecture-level and above divisions: 1981-2020
Sub-county administrative changes: 2014-2020
Provincial-city-county-township subdistrict and neighborhood committee divisions: 2009-2021
Field Description
Prefecture-level and Above Administrative Divisions
Sub-county Administrative Division Changes
Provincial-City-County-Township Subdistrict and Neighborhood Committee Divisions
Sample Data
Prefecture-level and Above Administrative Divisions
Sub-county Administrative Division Changes
Provincial-City-County-Township Subdistrict and Neighborhood Committee Divisions
Relevant Literature
- Yu Huayi, Hou Yujuan, Hong Yongmiao, 2021: "Regional Integration Effects of Municipal District Mergers: Evidence from Real Estate Microdata and Urban Economic Data," China Industrial Economics, No.4.
- Wang Xianbin, Nie Haifeng, 2010: "Administrative Division Adjustments and Economic Growth," Management World, No.4.
Update Frequency
Annual updates