Prefectures and prefecture-level cities: the political economy of administrative restructuring

In the hierarchy of government administrative structures of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the prefecture level (diji) is the second level of subnational authority, below the provincial level (shengji) and above the county level (xianji). The prefecture level consists of four types of administrative units: (1) prefectures (diqu), (2) autonomous prefectures (zizhizhou), (3) leagues (meng), and (4) prefecture-level cities (diji shi).