Largest cities in China by population
The 4 cities the United Nations Demographic Yearbook 2024 lists for China: the capital and every city of 100,000 or more, with the latest figure the country reported. The largest is Chongqing with 31,900,000 people; the capital, Beijing, has 21,830,000.
Who runs cities in China?
Provincial level (22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 centrally administered municipalities, 2 special administrative regions: Hong Kong and Macao): Governor elected by the provincial people's congress (whose deputies are elected indirectly); Party secretary appointed through the Party system. Provincial administration, economy, budgets; the PRC also counts Taiwan as a province, a claim the authorities in Taipei reject.
How local power works in China · Level 3: local councils worldwide
| # | City | Population | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chongqing | 31,900,000 | end of 2024 |
| 2 | Shanghai | 24,800,000 | end of 2024 |
| 3 | Beijing (capital) | 21,830,000 | end of 2024 |
| 4 | Tianjin | 13,640,000 | end of 2024 |
Countries define a city in different ways (the city proper, or the wider urban area) and report in different years, so cities in different countries are not always comparable.
More on China: official statistics · government and power · regions
Sources
- United Nations Statistics Division: Demographic Yearbook 2024, Table 8: Population of capital cities and cities of 100 000 or more inhabitants, latest available year, 2005-2024, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0c6784df022e…)
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