Autonomous prefecture in the context of "Sub-provincial division"

Strictly speaking, China's legal system neither recognizes the concept of "sub-provincial administrative divisions" (Chinese: 副省级行政区; pinyin: Fùshěngjí xíngzhèngqū) or "sub-provincial cities" (Chinese: 副省级城市; pinyin: Fùshěngjí chéngshì) nor provides specific legislation for such designations, and these categories are absent from official statistical classifications. The so-called sub-provincial divisions or sub-provincial cities refer to special administrative status granted to selected prefecture-level cities during specific historical periods. This status is operationally defined by appointing deputy provincial-level (deputy ministerial-level) officials as the top leaders of municipal party and government organs. Correspondingly, institutional heads under these jurisdictions hold ranks half a grade higher than their counterparts in regular prefecture-level administrative divisions – specifically, party and government department leaders are designated as deputy departmental-level officials.

China has 15 sub-provincial cities, including Dalian, Qingdao, Ningbo, Xiamen and Shenzhen and 5 separately planned cities (Chinese: 计划单列市). Additionally, the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang holds sub-provincial status as an autonomous prefecture, governing three administrative prefectures: the directly-administered counties and cities under Ili Prefecture, this refers specifically to the core jurisdictional area of Ili Profecture in its narrow administrative sense and also the administrative division-based statistical scope of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, and Tacheng (Tarbagatay) Prefecture and Altay Prefecture.

Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in western Xinjiang, China, bordering Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Its capital is Artush. The prefecture is home to 622,222 people (as of 2020) and covers an area of 70,916 km (27,381 sq mi). Most Kyrgyz in China reside in Kizilsu; they make up a little over a quarter of the prefecture's population. The Uyghurs are the largest ethnic group in Kizilsu, consisting of nearly two-thirds of the population.

Guizhou is an inland province in Southwestern China with its capital and largest city as Guiyang, located in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to the south, Yunnan to the west, Sichuan to the northwest, the municipality of Chongqing to the north, and Hunan to the east. Guizhou has a humid subtropical climate. It covers a total area of 176,200 square kilometers and consists of six prefecture-level cities and three autonomous prefectures. The population of Guizhou stands at 38.5 million, ranking 18th among the provinces in China.

The Dian Kingdom, which inhabited the present-day area of Guizhou, was annexed by the Han dynasty in 106 BC. Guizhou was formally made a province in 1413 during the Ming dynasty. After the overthrow of the Qing in 1911 and following the Chinese Civil War, the Chinese Communist Party took refuge in Guizhou during the Long March between 1934 and 1935. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong promoted the relocation of heavy industry into inland provinces such as Guizhou, to better protect them from potential foreign attacks.

Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture (Chinese: 黔东南苗族侗族自治州; pinyin: Qiándōngnán Miáozú Dòngzú Zìzhìzhōu; Hmu language: Qeef Dongb Naif Dol Hmub Dol Gud Zid Zid Zeb; Kam language: Qeens Donc Nanc Nyenc Miiul Nyenc Gaeml Zil Zil Zous), also known as Southeast Qian Autonomous Prefecture of Miao and Dong and shortened as S.E. Qian Prefecture (Qeens Donc Nanc Zous), is an autonomous prefecture in the southeast of Guizhou province in the People's Republic of China, bordering Hunan to the east and Guangxi to the south. The seat of the prefecture is Kaili. Qiandongnan has an area of 30,337 km (11,713 sq mi).

The whole state governs 1 city of Kaili and 15 counties. There are 7 streets, 94 towns, and 110 townships (including 17 ethnic townships). There are 33 ethnic groups living in the territory, including Miao, Dong, Han, Buyi, Shui, Yao, Zhuang, and Tujia. According to the seventh census data in China, as of 00:00 on November 1, 2020, the resident population of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture was 3,758,622.

Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Tibetan: ཡུལ་ཤུལ་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ།, ZWPY: Yüxü Poirig Ranggyong Kü, Chinese: 玉树藏族自治州; pinyin: Yùshù Zàngzú Zìzhìzhōu, retranscribed into Tibetan as ཡུལ་ཤུལ།), also transliterated as Yüxü or Yulshul, is an autonomous prefecture of Southwestern Qinghai Province, China. Largely inhabited by Tibetans, the prefecture has an area of 188,794 square kilometres (72,894 sq mi) and its seat is located in the town of Gyêgu in Yushu County, which is the place of the old Tibetan trade mart of Jyekundo. The official source of the Yellow River lies within the prefecture. Historically, the area belongs to the cultural realm of Kham in Eastern Tibet.

On 14 April 2010, an earthquake struck the prefecture, registering a magnitude of 6.9 (USGS, EMSC) or 7.1 (Xinhua). It originated in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, at 07:49 local time.

The Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture of eastern Jilin province in Northeast China, bordered to the north by Heilongjiang province, to the west by Jilin's Baishan and Jilin City, to the south by North Korea's North Hamgyong Province, and to the east by Russia's Primorsky Krai. Yanbian is known as the region with the largest number of ethnic Koreans (Chaoxianzu) living in China. It is sometimes referred to as the "Third Korea".

The prefectural capital is Yanji and the total area is 42,700 square kilometres (16,500 sq mi). The prefecture has an important Balhae archaeological site – the Ancient Tombs at Longtou Mountain – which includes the Mausoleum of Princess Jeonghyo.

Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in northern Xinjiang, China. Its capital is Yining, also known as Ghulja or Kulja. Covering an area of 268,591 square kilometres (16.18 per cent of Xinjiang), Ili Prefecture shares a 2,019-kilometer (1,255 mi)-long border with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia. There are nine ports of entry in Ili Prefecture at the national level, notably Khorgas. Directly administered regions (直辖区域) within the prefecture cover 56,622 square kilometres (21.08 per cent of Ili's total area) and have a population of 4,930,600 (63.95 per cent of Ili's registered population). Kazakhs are the second largest ethnicity in the prefecture after the Han Chinese, and make up a little over a quarter of the population.

Ili is the only prefecture-level division that has other prefecture-level divisions (Altay and Tacheng Prefectures) under its administration. The term "sub-provincial autonomous prefecture" (副省级自治州) has often been applied to Ili, but the term has no legal basis under Chinese law and is a misnomer.

Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture (Northern Yi: /nɛ˨˩ʂa˧/) is an autonomous prefecture occupying much of the southern extremity of Sichuan province, People's Republic of China. Its seat is Xichang. Liangshan covers an area of 60,261 km (23,267 sq mi) and has over 4.8 million inhabitants as of 2020. It has the largest population of ethnic Yi (or Nosu) among China's prefectures. Liangshan contains a number of isolated villages high up on its cliffs, often known as "cliff villages".

Xichang has the Xichang Qingshan Airport and the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The prefecture also features a substantial network of railways for both passengers and freight.