Greater administrative region

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.^[1]

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 (华北事务部; 華北事務部; Huáběi Shìwù Bù) 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 (华北行政委员会; 華北行政委員會; Huáběi Xíngzhèng Wěiyuánhuì) of the Government Administration Council.^[1]

In January 1950, the Central People's Government Council passed the General Rules for the Organization of Provincial People's Governments. Article 1 of the rules stipulated that the Provincial People's Government Committee was the provincial-level local government organ and was directly led by the People's Government Committee of the administrative region in charge; in areas where no administrative region People's Government was established, the Provincial People's Government Committee was directly led by the State Council. Legally, the People's Government of the administrative region was defined as the highest local government organ.^[2] 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.^[1]

Starting in June 1954, the Central People's Government successively abolished the administrative institutions of the major administrative regions, and the central government directly governed the provinces, which was completed by November. The CCP Central Committee Bureau and Military and Political Committee related to the six major administrative regions were abolished, and the six major military regions were split into eleven major military regions. Researchers believe that this was due to the needs of China's economic construction at that time, to strengthen the centralized leadership of the central government and reduce the organizational level of the government, or that it was due to the Gao Gang Affair that occurred in 1953.^[1]

The highest officials of the greater administrative regions were known as chairmen (主席; zhǔxí). (From this historical origin derives the term still used today for the top officials of China's autonomous regions.) Except the Northeast, which was governed by a People's Government, the regions' highest government bodies were Military and Administrative Committees (军政委员会; 軍政委員會; jūnzhèng wěiyuánhuì), which were replaced by administrative councils in November 1952. Several domains in China today retain the same structure of geographic divisions as the GAAs. Military administrative regions, the divisions of some major banks, and civil aviation districts are still divided in the same form as the greater administrative regions.