The Provinces and the cities in China:

If we consider the provinces of Sichuan - which correspond to the Rouge basin of the high valley of Yang-tseu-kiang (Yangzi) - extends on 570.000 km2, i.e. a surface higher than that of the Metropolitan France, and shelters today nearly 120 million inhabitants.

• Provinces of the North-East:  Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning
• Provinces of North:  Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia
• Provinces of the North-West:  Xinjiang, Qinhai, Gansu and Shaanxi
• Provinces of South-west:  Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan and Tibet
• Provinces of the East:  Shandong, Jiangxu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Fujian
• Provinces of the Centre-South:  Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan
• Cities - Provinces:  Peking, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing.

At the end of 2002, the total number of the towns of China was 660.  Among them, there are 10 cities whose population exceeds more than 4 million inhabitants, 23 from 2 to 4 million, 138 from 1 to 2 million, 279 from 0,5 to 1 million, 171 of 200 000 to 500 000 and 39 below 200 000. 

As regards town planning, China practises the policy known as "to strictly control dimensions of the big cities, to develop the average cities reasonably, and to develop the small cities actively". 

The average cities with a population below 500 000 and the small cities with a population of less than 200 000 experienced a fast development after the Eighties of the 1980's.  In the neighbourhoods of large cities which have a population of more than 1 million, the satellite towns were built in a well planned way, while taking account of their strategic importance.