China is the world’s most populous country. According to the Demographic research group in 2017, there are 102 Chinese cities with over 1 million people in the “urban area”, as defined by the group’s methodology.
Definition and classification
According to the administrative divisions of China, there are three levels of cities, namely direct-administered municipalities (直辖市), prefecture-level cities (地级市), and county-level cities (县级市). The Special Administrative Regions (特别行政区) of Hong Kong and Macau and the areas controlled by the Republic of China (Taiwan) are not included in this administrative classification.
Municipalities and prefecture-level cities are not each a “city” in the strictest sense of the term, but instead an administrative unit comprising, typically, both an urban core (a city in the strict sense) and surrounding rural or less-urbanized areas usually many times the size of the central, built-up core.
Prefecture-level cities nearly always contain multiple counties (县), county-level cities, and other such sub-divisions. To distinguish a prefecture-level city from its actual urban area (city in the strict sense), the term “市区” (shì qū; “urban area”) is used. However, even this term often encompasses large suburban regions often greater than 3,000 square kilometres (1,000 sq mi), sometimes only the urban core whereas the agglomeration overtake the city limits. Thus, the “urban core” would be roughly comparable to the American term “city limit”, the “shì qū”, or “urban area”, would be roughly comparable to “metropolitan area”, and the municipality is a political designation defining regions under control of a municipal government, which has no comparable designation.
List of major cities by population
The list contains all the cities with the administrative designation of “National Central City” (国家中心城市) and “Sub-Provincial City” (副省级城市) – including five “Municipalities with Independent Planning Status” (计划单列市) and ten large “Provincial Capital Cities” (省会城市), as well as some large “Special Economic Zones” (经济特区城市), “Open Coastal Cities” (沿海开放城市) and “Prefecture-Level Cities” (地级市).
Urban population
| Legend:
⍟ National Capital City # National Central City * Provincial Capital City ~ Open Coastal City † Special Economic Zone |
| Direct-Administered Municipality | |
| Municipality with Independent Planning Status | |
| Sub-Provincial City | |
| Prefecture-Level City |
| Rank | City | Province | Latest Estimate | 2010 Census |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shanghai#~ | — | 26,917,322 | 20,217,748 |
| 2 | Beijing⍟# | — | 20,381,745 | 16,704,306 |
| 3 | Chongqing# | — | 15,773,658 | 6,263,790 |
| 4 | Tianjin#~ | — | 13,552,359 | 9,583,277 |
| 5 | Guangzhou#*~ | Guangdong | 13,238,590 | 10,641,408 |
| 6 | Shenzhen† | Guangdong | 12,313,714 | 10,358,381 |
| 7 | Chengdu#* | Sichuan | 9,104,865 | 7,791,692 |
| 8 | Nanjing* | Jiangsu | 8,789,855 | 5,827,888 |
| 9 | Wuhan#* | Hubei | 8,346,205 | 7,541,527 |
| 10 | Xi’an#* | Shaanxi | 7,948,032 | 5,403,052 |
| 11 | Hangzhou* | Zhejiang | 7,603,271 | 5,849,537 |
| 12 | Dongguan | Guangdong | 7,402,305 | 7,271,322 |
| 13 | Foshan | Guangdong | 7,313,711 | 6,771,895 |
| 14 | Shenyang* | Liaoning | 7,191,333 | 5,718,232 |
| 15 | Harbin* | Heilongjiang | 6,360,991 | 4,596,313 |
| 16 | Qingdao~ | Shandong | 5,597,028 | 4,556,077 |
| 17 | Dalian~ | Liaoning | 5,587,814 | 3,902,467 |
| 18 | Jinan* | Shandong | 5,330,573 | 3,641,562 |
| 19 | Zhengzhou#* | Henan | 5,286,549 | 3,677,032 |
| 20 | Changsha* | Hunan | 4,555,788 | 3,193,354 |
| 21 | Kunming* | Yunnan | 4,422,686 | 3,385,363 |
| 22 | Changchun* | Jilin | 4,408,154 | 3,411,209 |
| 23 | Ürümqi* | Xinjiang | 4,335,017 | 2,853,398 |
| 24 | Shantou† | Guangdong | 4,312,192 | 3,644,017 |
| 25 | Hefei* | Anhui | 4,216,940 | 3,098,727 |
| 26 | Shijiazhuang* | Hebei | 4,098,243 | 3,095,219 |
| 27 | Ningbo~ | Zhejiang | 4,087,523 | 2,583,073 |
| 28 | Taiyuan* | Shanxi | 3,875,053 | 3,154,157 |
| 29 | Nanning* | Guangxi | 3,837,978 | 2,660,833 |
| 30 | Xiamen† | Fujian | 3,707,090 | 3,119,110 |
| 31 | Fuzhou*~ | Fujian | 3,671,192 | 3,102,421 |
| 32 | Wenzhou~ | Zhejiang | 3,604,446 | 2,686,825 |
| 33 | Changzhou | Jiangsu | 3,601,079 | 2,257,376 |
| 34 | Nanchang* | Jiangxi | 3,576,547 | 2,614,380 |
| 35 | Tangshan | Hebei | 3,399,231 | 2,128,191 |
| 36 | Guiyang* | Guizhou | 3,299,724 | 2,520,061 |
| 37 | Wuxi | Jiangsu | 3,245,179 | 2,757,736 |
| 38 | Lanzhou* | Gansu | 3,067,141 | 2,438,595 |
| 39 | Zhongshan | Guangdong | 2,909,633 | 2,740,994 |
| 40 | Handan | Hebei | 2,708,015 | 1,830,000 |
| 41 | Weifang | Shandong | 2,636,154 | 2,044,028 |
| 42 | Huai’an | Jiangsu | 2,632,788 | 2,494,013 |
| 43 | Zibo | Shandong | 2,631,647 | 2,261,717 |
| 44 | Shaoxing | Zhejiang | 2,521,964 | 1,725,726 |
| 45 | Yantai~ | Shandong | 2,511,053 | 1,797,861 |
| 46 | Huizhou | Guangdong | 2,509,243 | 1,807,858 |
| 47 | Luoyang | Henan | 2,372,571 | 1,584,463 |
| 48 | Nantong~ | Jiangsu | 2,261,382 | 1,612,385 |
| 49 | Baotou | Inner Mongolia | 2,181,077 | 1,900,373 |
| 50 | Liuzhou | Guangxi | 2,153,419 | 1,624,571 |
N.B.: The source did not include Suzhou on the list. With 4,242,500 residents, Suzhou is the second largest city in Jiangsu Province, behind only Nanjing, the capital city. If included, Suzhou could be 25th on the list, just ahead of Hefei, the capital city of Anhui Province.