SUB-PROVINCIAL CITY

A 'sub-provincial city' (副省级城市), or 'deputy-provincial city', in the People's Republic of China, is a prefecture-level city that is ruled by a province, but is administered independently in regard to economy and law. The mayor of a sub-provincial city is equal in status to a vice-governor of a province. Its status is below that of municipalities, which do not belong to any province, but above other, regular prefecture-level cities, which are completely ruled by their provinces. The original 16 sub-provincial cities were created on February 25 1994 by the Central Organization Committee out of prefecture-level cities. They are sometimes the capitals of the provinces in which they are located.
Currently, there are 15 sub-provincial cities:

★ Changchun (in Jilin province)

★ Chengdu (Sichuan)

★ Dalian (Liaoning)

★ Guangzhou (Guangdong)

★ Hangzhou (Zhejiang)

★ Harbin (Heilongjiang)

★ Jinan (Shandong)

★ Nanjing (Jiangsu)

★ Ningbo (Zhejiang)

★ Qingdao (Shandong)

★ Shenyang (Liaoning)

★ Shenzhen (Guangdong)

★ Wuhan (Hubei)

★ Xiamen (Fujian)

★ Xi'an (Shaanxi)
Chongqing was formerly a sub-provincial city of Sichuan until 1997, when it was made a municipality by splitting it out of Sichuan altogether. Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps also has the powers of a sub-provincial city. Besides, the head of Pudong District of Shanghai, which is a county-level district, is given sub-provincial powers.
Guangzhou, Harbin and Chengdu are the largest sub-provincial cities; each has a population exceeding that of the municipality of Tianjin.
The National Standing Committee of Sub-provincial Municipal People's Congresses' Chairmen Joint Conference (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:

★ 1. February 26 to March 4 1985, Guangzhou

★ ...

★ 17. October 30 - November 2 2001, Guangzhou

★ ...

★ 19. October 8 - ?, 2003, Wuhan