A sub-provincial division (Chinese: 副省级行政区; pinyin: Fùshěngjí xíngzhèngqū) in China is a prefecture-level city governed by a province promoted by half-a-level. Thus, it is half-a-level under the provincial level, and half-a-level above the prefecture-level, hence the name "sub-provincial".
The promotion applies to all its subdivisions, administrative institutions, and political parties. For example, the mayor of a sub-provincial division is equal in status to a vice-governor of a province.
A sub-provincial division is still administratively governed by a province, just like prefecture-level divisions. However, five of them are also cities specifically designated in the state plan (Chinese: 计划单列市 / 計劃單列市), which enjoy the provincial level authority over economic issues—governmental finance, customs, economic strategy planning, economic policy, foreign economic affairs, banking, etc.
Sub-provincial divisions, similar to prefectural-level divisions, are administrative units comprising, typically, a main central urban area (the core city) surrounded by rural area, which together are divided into districts, and some surrounding counties or county-level cities (all promoted to sub-prefecture level) governed by the sub-provincial division on behalf of the province, which all have their own urban areas surrounded by their own rural areas.
Chongqing was formerly a sub-provincial municipality of Sichuan until 14 March 1997, when it was made an independent municipality by splitting it out of Sichuan altogether. The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps also has the powers of a sub-provincial division.
Chengdu is the largest sub-provincial municipality. It has a population exceeding that of the independent municipality of Tianjin while both Harbin and Chengdu have a bigger land area than Tianjin.
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture has the two prefectures of Altai and Tacheng and 11 directly-controlled county-level administrative divisions under its jurisdiction. It itself is legally only a prefecture-level division, which is a special case in China's administrative divisions. It is not accurate to regard Ili Kazakh Autonomous Region as a sub-provincial administrative division, which has no legal basis. Up until 2001, the Autonomous Prefecture had a 3rd prefecture as well. The directly controlled subdivisions were administered as part of Ili Prefecture (伊犁地区)
The National Joint Conference of Sub-provincial City People's Congress Standing Committee Chairpersons (全国副省级城市人大常委会主任联席会议) are attended by the chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of all sub-provincial cities. It was proposed by the Guangzhou Municipal People's Congress in 1985. The conferences:
Sub Süß Sub-provincial division Sub Sub Sub-lieutenant Sub Pop Sub-inspector Sub-internship Sub judice Sub-caliber ammunition Sub-officer MTV Sub Sub-divisional magistrate List of sub-regions used in the London Plan Mr. Sub Sub-orbital spaceflight Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Zero (company) Sub Focus discography Sub Urban (musician) Sub-Zero (Mortal Kombat) .sub Sub Focus (album) Sub-prefectures of Ivory Coast Sub-prefectural city Stratford-sub-Castle Weston-sub-Edge Lango sub-region Syndicate Sub Rosa Jämsä sub-region Hämeenlinna sub-region The Sub Sub-niche market Tooro sub-region Sub-bass Su…
b-agent Sub-irrigated planter Sub-Earth Sub Pop 200 Sub-divisional inspector Hong Jin-sub Kim In-sub Băița de sub Codru Äänekoski sub-region Sub-Riemannian manifold Baik Jong-sub Seinäjoki sub-region Norton-sub-Hamdon Sub tuum praesidium Riihimäki sub-region Pieksämäki sub-region N-Sub Sub Pop 100 Stoke-sub-Hamdon Sub Verse Music Roma Sub Rosa Sub-Central line Sub-Terrania 688 Attack Sub Torne Valley sub-region Sub Club Kel-Tec SUB-2000 Sub-band coding Firebird Sub-One Sub-prefectures of Guinea Saarijärvi-Viitasaari sub-region Sub•Lime Records Sub Rosa (label) Sub-divisional police officer Nivala-Haapajärvi sub-region Jin Min-sub Sub-culture (song) Jarash Sub-district Poienile de sub Munte Sub Oslo Jyväskylä sub-region Sub rosa Sub-Himalayan Range Sub-brown dwarf Byun Jae-sub Lennys Grill & Subs The Sub-Saharan Informer Sub-Balkan Valley Kim Hyun-sub Lee Yoon-sub Shim Jung-sub Kim Dong-sub Sub-bituminous coal The Sub-Editor's Room Isa Khel (sub-tribe) Campeonato Brasileiro Feminino Sub-20 Sub-Aqua Association Kim Lee-sub Campeonato Brasileiro Feminino Sub-17 Church of St John sub Castro, Lewes Sub-prefectures of the Central African Republic Church of the SubGenius Sub