Some Western scholars have studied the traditional Chinese urban system and believe that there is a distinctive Chinese urban system model and a traditional Chinese urban development model. In the 1980s, many people began to study the development of contemporary Chinese urban system since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the non-agricultural population of Chinese cities has grown rapidly, with the number of established cities increasing from 136 to 691, the urbanization rate of Qipu has reached 63.89%, and the population living in towns is 901.99 million. The growth in China's urban system is mainly reflected in the growth of new cities. Before the founding of New China, there were only 66 established cities in my country (at the end of 1948). As of October 2022, the number of established cities in my country reached 691, and a total of 625 newly established cities were established. In addition, a total of 45 established cities were merged and revoked.
1. Standard for setting new cities in China
China's earliest cities can be traced back to 2500 BC, and the urban system of ancient China reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty. From the Western Zhou Dynasty (1100-771 BC) to the late Qing Dynasty (1911 AD), ancient China built about 600 cities (prefecture-level stations) and 3,000 county towns. Historically, Chinese cities were all administrative centers, such as county towns, state or prefecture towns, and provincial towns, rather than autonomous administrative entities. Modern Chinese cities are administrative entities (administrative regions) that focus on manufacturing and service industries and gather non-agricultural population and economic activities. Of course, they sometimes have other functions, such as economic centers, cultural centers, transportation centers and information centers.
China's municipal system began at the beginning of this century. The Beiyang government promulgated the "City and Township Organization Law" in 1912 to try to establish a European-style municipal system. In 1921, the Ministry of Internal Affairs promulgated the "City Autonomy System" in the form of a "Presidential Amnesty Order", which officially created the municipal system of Chinese cities in the national sense, and established two special cities, Nanjing and Shanghai, and Wuxi, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Anqing, Nanchang, Hankou (Wuhan), Guangzhou and Wuzhou are ordinary cities. In fact, these cities did not have their local governments in the period of civil war. Until 1925, the South China Revolutionary Government established Guangzhou City, which was the earliest city established in China. But strictly speaking, the Guangzhou City established during this period was just an autonomous group, not a first-level local administrative entity.
After the government of the Republic of China established its capital in Nanjing, it reformed the original municipal system. The "Special City Organization Law" and the "Ordinary City Organization Law" were promulgated in 1928. According to these two laws, cities are identified as local administrative regions and also as autonomous groups. From then on, China's establishment of a municipality became an autonomous administrative entity. Moreover, cities must be set up by the government. Since the founding of New China, cities have generally been regarded as settlements with a total population of more than 100,000, of which the non-agricultural population accounts for at least 70% of the total population; some important strategic centers of some countries or regions have been set up as cities, such as Sansha City in the South China Sea in the future, such as Alashankou City and Horgos City located at the port. Although the standards for establishing cities in China have been revised five times, the definition of cities has not changed since 1955.
2. Setting up of established cities
(I) Setting up of new cities before the founding of the People's Republic of China
After the government of the Republic of China established its capital in Nanjing, it reformed the original municipal system, designated the city as a local administrative region and also an autonomous group. In July 1928 (17th year of the Republic of China), the "Special Municipal Organization Law" and the "Ordinary Municipal Organization Law" were promulgated, which legally determined the basis for the modern municipal system. Later, as a system of administrative divisions, the city has evolved and has been passed down to this day. According to data records, in 1928, 8 special cities including Beiping (now Beijing), Tianjin, Harbin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Qingdao, Hankou, and Guangzhou, and 17 ordinary cities including Suzhou, Hangzhou, Bengbu, Wuhu, and Changsha were established.
Later, the "City Organization Law" was promulgated in May 1930, abolishing the distinction between special cities and ordinary cities, and determining their status differences based on their affiliation. That is, the larger city is directly under the Executive Yuan, and the rest are affiliated to the provincial government. The former is called a municipality or municipality under the jurisdiction of the court, and the latter is called a municipality under the jurisdiction of the provincial government.As the "City Organization Law" raises the standards for establishing cities, the number of cities has decreased. As of the end of 1932, there were four municipalities under the jurisdiction of Peking, Shanghai, Nanjing and Qingdao, and nine provincial municipalities under the jurisdiction of Tianjin, Hangzhou, Jinan, Hankou, Guangzhou, Shantou, Chengdu, Guiyang and Lanzhou.
It was not until the eve of the Anti-Japanese War that the number of institutions in the country returned to the level of 1928, with six municipalities under the jurisdiction of Peking, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Qingdao and Chongqing, and 17 provincial municipalities under the jurisdiction of Baotou, Lianyungang, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Nanchang, Jinan, Wuchang , Hankou, Changsha, Guangzhou, Shantou, Guilin, Chengdu, Zigong , Guiyang, Kunming and Lanzhou. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, there were about 26 cities nationwide. In 1945, the number of cities established in my country soared to 43; by 1947, the number of cities established in China further increased to more than 60. According to the data of the "Administrative Inspection Area of China", as of April 1948, there were 66 cities established in the country, including 12 municipalities directly under the central government.
After the founding of New China, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China stipulated that all towns with a population of more than 50,000 could be established. By the end of 1949, there were 136 cities in the country, including 12 municipalities directly under the central government, 55 municipalities under the provincial government, and 69 municipalities under the jurisdiction of the provincial government.
(II) The establishment of new cities during the economic reconstruction period
This period (1950-1957) was a period of fundamental changes in my country's social and economic system. Urban economic development is characterized by turning consumer cities into productive cities, especially between 1949-1954, the municipal system of New China was still in the stage of creation and rectification. In June 1955, the State Council issued the "Decision on the Establishment of Municipal and Towns", which was the first official legal document on the establishment of municipalities and towns after the founding of the People's Republic of China. This document emphasizes population factors and economic, political, military and other factors, and also emphasizes the administrative status and affiliation of the city, stipulating that the city "is an administrative unit led by provinces, autonomous regions, and autonomous prefectures."
The development of cities established in cities during this period is mainly reflected in two aspects: on the one hand, the municipal system of a number of small cities was abolished in the eastern regions, and a number of hub cities were built in a focus; on the other hand, a number of new industrial cities were built in the central and western regions, and the urban system was in a relatively stable and healthy development. According to statistics, from 1949 to 1957, the proportion of urban population in my country in the total population increased from 10.6% to 15.4%, and the annual average annual increase rate of urban population was as high as 70.5%.
During this period, a total of 71 new cities were established, mainly distributed in Hunan, Sichuan, Henan, Yunnan, Gansu, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Hebei, Anhui, Fujian and other provinces and regions. At the same time, 23 cities have been abolished in Anhui, Shandong, Zhejiang and other provinces and regions. Among the 71 newly established cities above, eight cities including Fengfeng City, Hebei, Huludao City, Liaoning, Runan City, Henan, Laohekou City, Hubei, Beibei City, Hechuan City, Yunnan, Hekou City, and Malipo City have also abolished their municipal system due to various reasons. By the end of 1957, there were 176 cities in my country, an increase of 29.4% from 136 in 1949, with an average annual increase of 5 new cities.
(III) "Great Leap Forward" and 3-year natural disasters periods of urban settings
During the "Great Leap Forward" from 1958 to 1960, industrial development was centered on the great steelmaking of the whole people, and the agricultural front also set off a wave of people's commune movement, causing the national urban population to soar from 99.49 million in 1957 to 130.73 million in 1960, 44 new cities were established, with a net increase of 31.4% in the three years, and the proportion of urban population in the country accounted for 19.7%, which made many cities too heavy and increased debts for municipal construction. Due to the large number of rural population entering cities during the "Great Leap Forward", the proportion of industry and agriculture is unbalanced, and the national economy has experienced huge fluctuations, resulting in serious problems in urban employment and supply. The country has to compress the urban population and reduce the city's establishment.
In October 1962, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council made a decision to adjust the city establishment in their instructions on several issues in the current cities: all cities with a population of less than 100,000, even important forest areas and mining areas should abolish the city establishment. In December 1963, the central government made the "Decision to Adjust the Municipal System and Reduce the Suburbs of Urban" and promulgated new municipal standards.Compared with the municipal establishment standards in 1955, the population size standard for establishing municipalities was mainly increased, and the standards for non-agricultural population were proposed in the municipal settings. After 1961, 52 cities were abolished nationwide, mobilizing nearly 30 million urban population to return to rural areas (equivalent to 25.7% of the urban population at that time).
According to the city statistics from 1958 to 1965, there were 54 new cities established during this period, including Xuanhua City, Hebei City, Houma City, Shanxi, Bayangaole City, Inner Mongolia, Chaoyang City, Liaoning, Bei'an City, Heilongjiang City, Xinyu City, Shandong Tai'an City, Shandong, Liaocheng City, Linyi City, Heze City, Xinwen City, Hubei City, Shayang City, Hunan Yueyang City, Lengshuitan City, Dongjiang City, Loudi City, Lengjiang City, Anjiang City, Anjiang City, Chenzhou City, Anshun City, Duyun City, Liuzhi City, Gansu Baiyin City, Jiuquan City, Zhangye City, Dewulu City, Qingtongxia City, Ningxia City, Lenghu City, Golmud City, Dachaidan City, Xinjiang Hami City, etc., 32 cities have successively abolished the municipal system.
At the same time, 29 of the 176 cities in 1957 were successively abolished. By the end of 1965, the proportion of urban population in my country in the country gradually decreased to 14%, and the total number of cities with cities also decreased to 169, which was 7 fewer than in 1957. The number of cities with cities in the urban system had negative growth, decreasing by about one city per year.
(IV) The establishment of new cities during the stagnation of the "Cultural Revolution"
This period (1966~1976) was a decade of turbulent era in my country's social economy during the "Cultural Revolution". On the one hand, urban residents and cadres and young intellectuals are decentralized, and on the other hand, they are engaged in the construction of "three-tier" and put a large amount of funds, equipment and technical forces backing, scattering, and entering the holes", resulting in few new cities being built, old cities being unable to develop, and the urban system is in a state of long-term stagnation.
According to data statistics, in the past 11 years, my country's urban population growth has been extremely slow, only from 99.65 million in 1966 to 113.42 million in 1976, with an average annual increase of 1.3%, significantly lower than the annual average natural growth rate of urban population in the same period 1.75%. During this period, there were very few new cities. In the past 11 years, there were 21 new cities, 1 city was abolished, 1 city was merged, and 19 cities were added to the net. By the end of 1976, there were 188 cities in the country, with an average annual increase of 1.7 cities.
(V) Setting up new cities in the period of economic reform and recovery and development
1977, especially since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, reform and opening up has brought profound changes to my country's political and economic situation. With the implementation of a series of reform and opening-up measures, the rural economy has developed rapidly, the role of urban economic center has been strengthened, a new urban and rural economic system has been formed in the city-leading county, urban construction and planning have gradually embarked on a scientific track, and the establishment of my country's city has also entered a period of recovery and development.
According to data statistics, during this period (1977-1985), a total of 139 new cities were established, including Hunan, Shandong, Xinjiang, Zhejiang, Hubei, Sichuan, Gansu and other provinces and regions. Only three cities, Tiefa City, Liaoning, Xinwen City, Shandong, and Lengshuijiang City, Hunan, successively abolished the municipal system, and the net increase in cities reached 136, with an average annual increase of 15.1 cities. By the end of 1985, there were 324 cities in my country, with a non-agricultural population of 118.25 million.
(VI) New cities are set up in the period of positive economic development
In 1986, the "Seventh Five-Year Plan" adopted by the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People's Congress pointed out: effectively prevent the excessive expansion of the population size of large cities and focus on developing a number of medium and small cities. In the same year, the State Council approved the trial of new municipal setting standards. The main content of the adjustment of the municipal setting standards this time is: First, the population standard set by the municipal setting has been reduced from 100,000 in the first two times to 60,000 people (non-agricultural population); Second, the GDP standard in the municipal setting has been proposed, reflecting the characteristics of economic construction as the center in the new era; Third, the attempt to break the already entrenched definition of population identity between urban and rural areas by farmers bringing their own rations to the city to run the tertiary industry and other measures; Fourth, the standards for county-to-city conversion were proposed.
During this period (1986~1993), the economy continued to grow rapidly in the eastern coastal areas of my country and the development of township enterprises, especially in 1992, the national economic system changed from a planned economy to a market economy. Production factors such as capital, land, labor and technology played an increasingly important role. The surplus rural labor was transferred to the field of non-agricultural production. The new municipal standard expanded the scope of the non-agricultural population and appropriately reduced the conditions. The city establishment model changed from the establishment of towns to the abolition of counties to the establishment of cities, which adapted to the needs of rural urbanization and greatly promoted the development of my country's municipal system. According to statistics, in the eight years from 1986 to 1993, 246 new cities were established nationwide, with an average of 30.1 new cities each year, among which the largest number of new cities were set up in coastal provinces such as Guangdong, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Hebei.
(VI) During the period of sustained rapid economic growth, new cities were set up
After the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of my country established the socialist market economic system, China's national economy entered a stage of rapid development, with an annual average growth rate of the national economy reaching 11.2%, ranking first among countries in the world, and my country's economic system was gradually incorporated into the world economic system. Due to a series of social and economic changes such as economic system transition, rapid economic growth, and industrial structure adjustment, which have strongly promoted the development of Chinese cities, and China's urban system has also gradually been included in the world urban system.
In 1993, the State Council approved the trial of the new urban city establishment standard. The main contents of this adjustment of municipal standards are: First, pay attention to regional differences. Regions with different population densities have different standards for establishing municipalities, reflecting the requirements and trends of national economic structure adjustment; second, the standards for establishing prefecture-level cities are proposed. In 1994, the first year after the trial of the new standard, there were 53 cities in the country, the largest number of cities in previous years.
According to statistics, between 1994 and 1996, there were 98 new cities in the country, with an average of nearly 33 each year, which was the fastest period of establishment of cities since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Among them, Guangdong and Jiangsu have the largest number. In the past three years, there are 25 cities in the two provinces, accounting for 1/4 of the total. During this period, cities in the central and western regions developed rapidly, with a total of 46 cities, close to half of the total number in the country. By 1996, there were 666 cities in the country, with a city population of 276.18 million. In 1997, the State Council "suspended the approval of counties to be changed to cities." As of the end of 1998, the number of county-level cities in China reached 437, of which nearly 350 were counties and cities. The familiar Yiwu City, Tongxiang City, Anhui City and Ningguo City, all of which were taken to change the city by taking this bus.
(VII) Since the 21st century, new cities have been set up
1. Newly established cities
New cities are basically in important areas of national strategies. Newly built cities are mainly established 10 established cities in ten divisions of the Xinjiang Corps. Two important ports in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have established Horgos City and Alashankou City, Mangya City has been established in the Kekexili area of Qinghai Province, and Sansha City in Hainan Province has been established in the South my country Sea. In the past 22 years since the new century, a total of 14 established cities have been established, including 1 prefecture-level city and 13 county-level city.
2002, with the approval of the State Council, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region established county-level Alar City (First Division of Xinjiang Corps), Tumushuke City (Third Division of Xinjiang Corps), and Wujiaqu City (Sixth Division of Xinjiang Corps); in 2011, the State Council approved the establishment of county-level Beitun City (10th Division of Xinjiang Corps); In 2012, the State Council approved the establishment of a county-level Alashankou City in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and approved the establishment of a county-level Tiemenguan City in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Second Division of the Xinjiang Corps); on June 21, 2012, the State Council approved the establishment of Sansha City in Hainan Province; in 2014, the State Council approved the establishment of a county-level Shuanghe City in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Fifth Division of the Xinjiang Corps), and agreed to the establishment of a county-level Horgos City in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
In 2015, the State Council approved the establishment of the county-level Kokdala City in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Fourth Division of the Xinjiang Corps); in 2016, the State Council approved the establishment of the county-level Kunyu City in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (14th Division of the Xinjiang Corps); on February 22, 2018, with the approval of the State Council and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, it agreed to abolish the Mangya Administrative Committee and the Lenghu Administrative Committee and establish the county-level Mangya City; in 2019, the State Council approved the establishment of the county-level Huyanghe City in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region; in 2021, the State Council approved the establishment of the county-level Xinxing City in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
2. Removal of the prefecture-based city
2000, Yuncheng City, Linfen City, Xinzhou City, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, Ji'an City, Yichun City, Fuzhou City, Shangrao City, Binzhou City, Heze City, Shandong Province, Zhoukou City, Zhumadian City, Sichuan Province, Ya'an City, Ziyang City, Bazhong City, Guizhou Province, Anshun City, Yunnan Province, Baoshan City, Shaanxi Province, Ankang City, Shaanxi Province, and a prefecture-level city abolished.
In 2001, Guyuan City, Ningxia Autonomous Region, Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province, Wuwei City, Gansu Province, and Shangluo City, Shaanxi Province were approved to establish prefecture-level cities; in 2002, Baise City, Hezhou City, Hechi City, Laibin City, , Liuzhou City, Nanning City, Chongzuo City, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, Zhangye City, Pingliang City, Qingyang City, and Jiuquan City, Gansu Province were approved to abolish the region and establish prefecture-level cities.
In 2003, Luliang City, Shanxi Province, Simao City, Yunnan Province (currently Pu'er City), Lincang City, and Dingxi City, Gansu Province were approved to establish prefecture-level cities; in 2004, Longnan District, Gansu Province, abolished the prefecture-level Longnan City .
In 2011, the Bijie area and Tongren area of Guizhou were approved to abolish prefecture-level city, establishing Bijie city and Tongren city respectively. In 2013, the Haidong area of Qinghai Province was approved to abolish prefecture-level city and establishing prefecture-level city; in 2014, the Shigatse region and Changdu area of Tibet Autonomous Region were approved to establish prefecture-level city Shigatse city and Changdu city; in 2015, the State Council approved the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to approve the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region; in 2015, the State Council approved the approval of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The establishment of prefecture-level Turpan city in Turpan area was abolished, and the establishment of prefecture-level linzhi area in Tibet Autonomous Region was abolished and approved to establish prefecture-level linzhi city; in 2016, the State Council approved the establishment of prefecture-level Hami city in Hami area, and the establishment of mountain-nan area in Tibet Autonomous Region was abolished and approved to establish prefecture-level Shannan in Tibet Autonomous Region; in 2017, the establishment of prefecture-level Nagqu area in Tibet Autonomous Region was abolished and established prefecture-level Nagqu city .
3. Abolishing the county and establishing a city
1997, the State Council suspended the implementation of the policy of abolishing the county and establishing a city for more than 11 years. Since then, the number of county-level cities in China has basically been gradually decreasing. After entering the 21st century, "county to city" has once again become the focus of attention. According to data, in 2010, there were 370 county-level cities in China, accounting for 56% of the total number of cities, with a total population of 248 million at the end of the year, accounting for 37% of the total urban population.
In September 2010, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved: Yunnan Province abolished Mengzi County and established county-level Mengzi City . In December of the same year, Yunnan Province abolished Wenshan County and established county-level Wenshan City . On January 24, 2013, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved: Jilin Province abolished Fuyu County and established county-level Fuyu City ; Yunnan Province abolished Mile County and established county-level mattress Maitreya City. On July 3, 2013, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved: Qinghai Province abolished Yushu County and established county-level Yushu City . On December 16, 2014, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved: Yunnan Province abolished Shangri-La County and established county-level Shangri-La City.
On February 17, 2015, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved: Sichuan Province abolished Kangding County and established county-level Kangding City . On August 1 of the same year, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region abolished Jingxi County and established a county-level Jingxi City; Yunnan Province abolished Tengchong County and established a county-level Tengchong City. On November 2 of the same year, Sichuan Province abolished Maerkang County and established county-level Maerkang City . On December 15, Heilongjiang Province abolished Dongning County and established county-level Dongning City . On January 13, 2016, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved: Heilongjiang Province abolished Fuyuan County and established county-level Fuyuan City . On March 20 of the same year, Jiangxi Province abolished Xingzi County and established a county-level Lushan City. On June 16, Yunnan Province abolished Lushui County and established county-level Lushui City .
In April 2017, the Ministry of Civil Affairs successively approved the abolition of counties and cities in Yuhuan County, Zhejiang Province, Pingquan County, Hebei Province, Pan County, Guizhou Province, Shenmu County, Shaanxi Province, Longchang County, Sichuan Province, and Ningxiang County, Hunan Province, marking that the policy of abolition of counties and cities that has been frozen for nearly 20 years will be reopened again. On September 26, 2018, with the approval of the State Council, Luan County was abolished and the county-level Luanzhou City was established.
In August 2019, with the approval of the State Council, it was agreed that Henan Province would abolish Changyuan County and establish a county-level Changyuan City; in August 2019, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the abolition of Guangde County and establish a county-level Guangde City ; in December 2019, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the abolition of Chengjiang County and establish a county-level Chengjiang City; in December 2019, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the abolition of Chengjiang County and establish a county-level Chengjiang City; in December 2019, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the abolition of Chengjiang County and establish a county-level Chengjiang City; in December 2019, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the abolition of Chengjiang County and establish a county-level Chengjiang City; in December 2019, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the abolition of Chengjiang County and establish a county-level Chengjiang City; in December 2019, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the abolition of Chengjiang County and establish a county-level Chengjiang City ; on December 16, 2019, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the abolition of Wuwei County and the establishment of a county-level Wuwei City; on December 20, 2019, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the abolition of Kuqa County and the establishment of a county-level Kuqa City ; on December 26, 2019, with the approval of the State Council, the agreement was to abolish Pingguo County and establish a county-level Pingguo City .
On June 12, 2020, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the abolition of Jianli County, Hubei Province and the establishment of county-level Jianli City ; in January 2021, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the abolition of Shawan County and the establishment of county-level Shawan City ; in January 2021, with the approval of the State Council and the approval of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the agreement was to abolish Lufeng County and the establishment of county-level Lufeng City; 2 In January 021, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to abolish Hengxian and establish county-level Hengzhou City ; in January 2021, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the abolition of Qiyang County and establish county-level Qiyang City; in February 2021, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the abolition of Qiyang County and establish county-level Qiyang City; in February 2021, with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved the abolition of Qianxi County and establish county-level Qianxi City.
3. Merger and revocation of established cities
In the 73 years since the founding of New China, the number of established cities in my country has grown rapidly. Although there have been periods of rapid growth, stagnation, slow growth and uniform speed, overall, the number of newly established cities in my country has shown an overall increase. Compared with the 66 established cities in 1948 before the founding of New China, as of October 2022, my country has a total of 625 newly established cities. Of course, this must be counted as the 45 cities that were deducted, because in the 73-year history, there are 45 cities that have merged and revoked. The specific situation is as follows:
(I) The cities that have been cancelled after the merger and the downgraded cities
Xuanhua City and Zhangjiakou City, Shanhaiguan City and Qinhuangdao City , Fengfeng City and Handan City, Travel Shun City and Dalian City, Beiqian City and Chongqing City, Wutongqiao City and Zigong City, Tunxi City and Huangshan City, Huangyan City and Jiaojiang City, Laiwu City merged into Jinan City, Dongchuan City in Yunnan Province merged into Kunming City, Miquan City in Changji Prefecture, Xinjiang and Dongshan District in Urumqi City were abolished after merger; Bayanhot City in Inner Mongolia, Jinzhou City in Liaoning, Sanhe City, Dangtu City, Datong City in Anhui, Yangkou City and Shidao City in Shandong, Zhuji City in Henan, and Wanding City in Yunnan Province were demoted to towns.
(II) The established cities that were once abolished after the establishment of a city
Bayangaole City, Inner Mongolia, Huludao City, Liaoning, Runan City, Henan Province, Hekou City, Malipo City, Hubei Province, Dongjiang City, Anjiang City (Anjiang City, once the location of Huaihua City, Hunan Province, is now Anjiang Town of Hongjiang City), Dewulu City, Gansu Province, Lenghu City, Dachaidan City, Xinjiang Province, Qitai City, Shache City (He Fanghong Note: Qitai City and Shache City were established in Xinjiang in 1953) and other places were once abolished after the establishment of a city.
(III) After the city was established, it was revoked. The city was finally restored.
Botou City in Hebei, Yuci and Houma City in Shanxi, Chifeng and Ulanhot City in Inner Mongolia, Chaoyang and Tiefa City in Liaoning, Gongzhuling City in Jilin, Yichun and Bei'an City in Heilongjiang, Changshu City in Jiangsu, Lanxi City in Zhejiang, 5 Jiaxing City , Huzhou City, Shaoxing City , Jinhua City, Quzhou City, Tongling City, Tunxi City, Lu'an City, Fuyang City, Suzhou City, Jieshou City, Bozhou City, Xuanzhou City, Fuzhou City and Xinyu City in Jiangxi, Tai'an City, Liaocheng City, Linyi City, Heze City, Xinwen City, Linqing City, Longkou City, Henan Pingdingshan City , Zhoukoudian City, Zhumadian City, Laohekou City, and Hubei City have gone through the process of setting-revoking-restoring of municipal system.
plus Chenzhou City and Hongjiang City in Hunan (once Hongjiang City was actually the current Hongjiang District, and Hongjiang City was the current Qianyang County), Jin City, Yueyang City, Lengshuitan City, Loudi City, Lengshuijiang City, Chaozhou City in Guangdong, Hechuan City in Sichuan (He Fanghong Note: Hechuan City is now Hechuan District, Chongqing City), Anshun City, Duyun City, Liupanshui City in Guizhou, Hanzhong City and Yulin City in Shaanxi, Linxia City, Pingliang City, Baiyin City in Gansu, Jiuquan City, Zhangye City, Qingtongxia City and Wuzhong City in Ningxia, Golmud City in Qinghai and Hami City in Xinjiang, etc. A total of 62 established cities in the country have experienced the process of setting-revoking-restoring of urban institutions. There is also the process of Chaohu City, Anhui Province, which has experienced the process of county-level cities and prefecture-level cities and then county-level cities (the county was abolished in 1984, and it became a prefecture-level city in 1999, and in 2011 it became a county-level city).
4. Changes in the types of new cities in my country
Since the founding of New China, the development of cities in my country has fundamentally changed the original organizational structure of historical relics. Cities first become regional centers for regional or national economic development, and the economic functions of cities have further transformed from consumer cities to productive cities, from centers that absorb rural resources to bases that support agricultural modernization. Shortly after the founding of New China, the rapid socialist economic construction has adopted the national economic management system of replacing economic centers with administrative centers in history, further strengthening administrative center cities at all levels in my country. Provincial capital cities have developed industrial departments such as steel, machinery, agricultural machinery, chemical industry, etc. around them, resulting in rapid development of such cities; prefecture-level cities have also attracted and invested in construction projects with administrative advantages, and gradually developed into regional political, economic and cultural centers with comprehensive functions; county-level cities have relied on the political and cultural advantages of the county and successively established "five small industries" one after another, and achieved rapid development.
my country's economic development has always focused on energy and raw materials industries. In the past 73 years, a large number of new cities in mining and processing industries have emerged, which have become an important part of my country's urban system. According to statistics, among the newly established cities, mining (cutting) cities occupy an important position, including 44 coal-fired power cities, 24 iron ore and non-ferrous metal mining and processing cities, 14 oil mining and processing cities, 8 forestry logging cities, and 4 hydropower development cities. Most of these cities started and developed rapidly when they were originally rural or residential areas.
Today's cities such as Daqing have entered the ranks of big cities. Jixi City , Yichun City, Wuhai City, Shuangyashan City , Huaibei City, Zaozhuang City , Pingdingshan City, Karamay City , Liupanshui City, Tongchuan City, Ma'anshan City, Panzhihua City (formerly called Dukou City), Yakeshi City, Shiyan City , etc. have also developed into medium-sized cities. Due to the construction of large-scale backbone projects, a number of processing industrial cities have also developed rapidly, such as Handan, Zibo , Qiqihar, Luoyang, Shiyan , Xianyang, Wuxi, Suzhou, Changzhou , Nantong , Jingdezhen, Huangshi, Jingsha, Xiangtan, Luzhou, etc. Today, most of them have developed into large and medium-sized cities.
After more than 70 years of construction, my country has initially formed a national transportation system with railways as the backbone and roads, water transportation, shipping and pipelines. Correspondingly, a number of new transportation hub cities have also been developed. First, Shenyang, Harbin, Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Nanjing, Xuzhou, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Central China (there has now been constructed a rice-shaped high-speed railway hub), Wuhan, Zhuzhou, Huaihua, Xiangyang, Guangzhou, Liuzhou, South China, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guiyang, Kunming, and Turpan, Baoji, Lanzhou and other railway hub cities in the northwest have been further developed.
Secondly, in remote areas such as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Xinjiang, highway hub cities such as Lhasa, Golmud, Ya'an, Linzhi, Shigatse, Kashgar, Korla have also developed accordingly; third, Dalian, Qinhuangdao, Tianjin, Yantai, Qingdao, Lianyungang, Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Shantou, Zhanjiang, Guangzhou, Haikou, etc. on the eastern coast have developed into large and medium-sized port cities with deep water berths. In addition, in the border areas, combined with the geographical advantages of each region, new port cities such as Manzhouli , Horgos , Alashankou, Erlianhot, Tumen, Suifenhe, and Pingxiang have been successively built.
The number of cities in the central and western regions has grown steadily, and the density of urban networks has increased rapidly. Over the past 70 years, my country has carried out large-scale industrial construction and urban construction in the mainland, which has greatly improved the imbalance of the old Chinese cities in the eastern coastal areas. However, the eastern region is still the center of my country's urban development, with the largest number of cities growing, and has clearly formed six urban agglomerations, including central and southern Liaoning, Shandong Peninsula, Beijing-Tianjin-Tang Dynasty, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and the west coast of the Strait. In the 73 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the number of cities in my country has grown rapidly. By October 2022, the number of established cities has reached 691, including 625 new cities. The number of megacities has grown rapidly, but the proportion of cities and urban population in the country has not changed much; the proportion of large cities and urban population in the country has gradually declined after an increase; the number of medium and small cities and population has begun to show a rapid growth trend in recent years. my country's urban hierarchical system has entered the development period of small and medium-sized cities from the development period of large cities.
