The direct administration of Chongqing is a period of history that many people in Sichuan and Chongqing are familiar with.
As for why Chongqing was established as a city instead of a province. Many articles have explained this issue: for example, lessons learned from avoiding the miscarriage of Three Gorges Province , while reducing administrative levels, improving management efficiency, etc.
According to the book "Millions of Three Gorges Migrants", at that time, the country did not decide from the beginning to make Chongqing directly under the jurisdiction. It also considered whether to establish Eastern Sichuan Province, so that more areas and populations could be demarcated from Sichuan.
However, since Chongqing became the provincial capital, conflicts and problems have become larger, mainly reflected in the following aspects:
1: Chongqing’s burden is too heavy. At the beginning of , Sichuan had considered incorporating cities such as Nanchong, Daxian, and Guang'an into Chongqing, so that Sichuan would only be in charge of western Sichuan, Sanzhou, and southern Sichuan. The population of New Chongqing is close to 50 million, equivalent to half the size of Sichuan. But at that time, the cities in northeastern Sichuan were relatively poor, and Chongqing was still facing the arduous task of relocating from the Three Gorges, which would greatly increase the burden.
2: It is not conducive to Chongqing’s role. Once a province is established, Chongqing will have to be the provincial capital city, and its separate plan will have to be cancelled, which will limit the role of Chongqing. Chongqing has become the political, economic and cultural center of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, influencing and driving the economic and social development of Wanxian, Fuling, Qianjiang and other cities. Establishing a municipality directly under the Central Government of Chongqing and further enhancing its status will help Chongqing lead these regions to change their backwardness as soon as possible.
Three: It is not conducive to stability and unity. In the early days of the founding of New China, Sichuan Province was divided into four administrative areas: Eastern Sichuan, Western Sichuan, Southern Sichuan, Northern Sichuan, Chongqing City, and Xikang Province. If Sichuan Province is established, what about Sichuan Province? Should it be renamed Western Sichuan Province? In addition, Xikang Province was once a place where ethnic minorities lived together, which may cause certain historical problems and cause social instability.
On the contrary, Chongqing, as one of my country's megacities, has many favorable conditions for establishing a municipality directly under the Central Government. Therefore, East Sichuan Province was not ultimately established, but became the fourth municipality directly under the Central Government in my country.
