thumb|400px|Greater administrative areas of China (with 1952-1953 provincial borders)
Greater administrative regions or greater administrative areas () were top-level administrative divisions in territories controlled by the Chinese Communist Party in Northern China and later the nascent People's Republic of China that directly governed provinces and municipalities. These were the largest-ever political divisions of China and were controlled by the Central People's Government. They were dissolved between June and November 1954.
History
The emergence of large administrative regions stemmed from the wartime needs of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Chinese Civil War. After the continuation of the Civil War, the areas controlled by the CCP were mostly located in the north, and were independent and scattered, unable to fully control a province. At that time, the administrative levels of the CCP system were usually divided into four levels, namely border areas, administrative regions, special regions, and counties, with corresponding party, government, and military institutions. In 1947, the war situation changed, the areas expanded, and gradually completed the capture of a province. After the merger of the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Area and the Jin- Ji-Lu-Yu Border Area, it had exceeded the scope of a province. Against this background, the North China People's Government which transcended the provincial boundaries, was established in 1948.
By 1950, the large-scale battles of the Chinese Civil War had ended, and the People's Republic of China had taken control of the entire mainland China. The large administrative regions were extended to the whole country. The People's Government of the large administrative region (or the Military and Political Committee) had the dual identity of being an agency dispatched by the Central People's Government and the highest local government. It was a first-level local government and led the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government within the region. On October 27, 1949, the Central People's Government officially abolished the North China People's Government, which became the first large administrative region people's government to be abolished. The provinces it governed were thenceforth directly controlled by the North China Branch () of the Government Administration Council of the Central People's Government instead. The five provinces and two municipalities under its jurisdiction were directly under the central government. In May 1952, control was again transferred, this time to the North China Administrative Council () of the Government Administration Council. In order to strengthen the centralized leadership of the central government, the 19th meeting of the Central People's Government in November 1952 resolved that the People's Government of the administrative region (or the Military and Political Committee) would be changed to the Administrative Committee, which was defined as the representative organ of the central government and no longer the highest local government organ. From December 1952 to February of the following year, six Administrative Committees were established one after another.
- Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
- Local Government of Tibet () i.e. (Kashag)
- The Executive Committee of Qiongyai Minority Nationality Autonomous Region () from 1949, later assigned to Central and South China region; the predecessor of Hainan
See also
- History of the administrative divisions of China