Administrative Divisions of Beijing, China
Administrative Divisions of Beijing
Beijing is one of the four municipalities directly under the central government of the People’s Republic of China. Beijing currently consists of 16 municipal districts. Among them, Dongcheng District and Xicheng District, both located within Beijing’s Second Ring Road, are traditionally regarded as the city’s central urban districts.
In urban planning, the built-up area of Beijing generally consists of the central urban area, roughly within the Fourth Ring Road, together with ten peripheral urban clusters. In recent decades, as urbanization has accelerated, all of Beijing’s former suburban and outer-suburban counties have been reorganized as districts. As Beijing is positioned as China’s political and cultural center, its industrial activities have gradually shifted toward areas outside the central urban districts.
Municipal Districts of Beijing
Beijing has 16 municipal districts:
- Dongcheng District
- Xicheng District
- Chaoyang District
- Fengtai District
- Shijingshan District
- Haidian District
- Mentougou District
- Fangshan District
- Daxing District
- Tongzhou District
- Shunyi District
- Changping District
- Huairou District
- Pinggu District
- Miyun District
- Yanqing District
Township-Level Administrative Divisions
The administrative divisions below the district level include subdistricts, towns, and townships. In some areas, township-level governments also operate as administrative offices for designated areas. This arrangement is sometimes described in China as “two signs, one organization”, meaning that two administrative titles are used by the same government organization.
In areas where a township government also serves as a designated-area administrative office, communities are generally the main local administrative units. In ordinary towns and townships, villages are the primary local administrative units.
As of December 2022, Beijing had 343 township-level administrative divisions, consisting of:
- 165 subdistricts
- 143 towns
- 30 townships
- 5 ethnic townships