CHAPTER 3 - The Broad Outline of the Political and Administrative Structure

Abstract

This chapter presents the political and administrative structure of China. There are two basic territorial units in political and governmental administration in China. One is the sheng (province) and the other the hsien, which is often translated as county. They are the basic units but definitely not the only ones. There are political and administrative units bigger than provinces, three units smaller than hsiens, and units between the province and the hsien. At present, there are some administrative units in China such as tzu chih chu (autonomous regions), which are similar to shengs in size, and the tzu chih chou (autonomous districts), which are similar to hsiens in size. Both of these are for the national minorities. There are also cities such as Peking that, because of their population and importance, are classified as equivalent to the provinces in status and are directly controlled by the Central Government. There are also some cities such as Canton that are equivalent to commissioner's districts in status and directly controlled by the Provincial Government. So province and hsien remain the basic territorial administrative units.