Chinese National Central City Definition

National central city was a concept proposed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People's Republic of China in 2005 as a first step in reforming urbanization in China. National central cities are described as a group of cities in charge of leading, developing, performing tasks in political, economic, and cultural aspects.

In February 2010, the ministry issued the "National Urban System Plan" and designated five major cities, Beijing and Tianjin in the Bohai Economic Rim, Shanghai in the Yangtze River Delta, Guangzhou in the Pearl River Delta, and Chongqing in western China also included Hong Kong as a special-national central city. National central cities sphere of influence have great impact around the surrounding cities on modernizing and integrating services in fields such as infrastructure, finance, public education, social welfare, sanitation, business licensing and urban planning. The ministry also makes mention of regional central cities including Shenzhen, Nanjing, Wuhan, Shenyang, Chengdu, and Xi'an.