China is administratively divided into provinces, counties and townships. Pro-vincial-level administrative units are the highest administrative regions directly under the management of the Central Government. They include provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. Currently, China has 23 provinces, five autonomous regions, four cities directly under the Central Government, and two special administrative regions. Counties constitute the basic administrative regions. In-between provinces and counties are regions and cities, which are placed directly under the provincial government. Counties exercise jurisdiction over towns and townships. Townships are the basic administrative units in the vast rural areas.

On July 1, 1997 and December 20, 1999, the Chinese Government regained sovereignty over Hong Kong and Macao. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region were set up in accordance1 the set policy of "one country, two systems", “Hong Kong people run Hong Kong” and "Macao people run Macao". Both Hong Kong and Macao enjoy high autonomy except in the fields of national defense and diplomatic affairs.