Editing Chongqing (section)

===Municipality status===
[[File:A Sunset View of Chongqing Central Business District.jpg|thumb|right|A sunset view of [[Jiefangbei CBD]] and Hongya Cave, taken in 2017]]
On 14 March 1997, the Eighth [[National People's Congress]] decided to merge the [[sub-provincial city]] with adjacent [[Fuling]], [[Wanxian]], and [[Qianjiang, Chongqing|Qianjiang]] prefectures that it had governed on behalf of the province since September 1996, and grant it independence from Sichuan. The resulting single entity became Chongqing Municipality,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Šebok |first=Filip |title=Contemporary China: a New Superpower? |publisher=[Routledge |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-03-239508-1 |editor-last=Kironska |editor-first=Kristina |chapter=China's Political System |editor-last2=Turscanyi |editor-first2=Richard Q.}}</ref>{{Rp|page=74}} containing 30,020,000 people in forty-three former [[County (People's Republic of China)|counties]] without intermediate political levels. The municipality became the spearhead of China's effort to develop its western regions and to coordinate the resettlement of residents from the reservoir areas of the [[Three Gorges Dam]] project. Its first official ceremony took place on 18 June 1997.

On 8 February 2010, Chongqing became one of the nine [[National Central Cities]], along with Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Xi'an, and Zhengzhou. According to Zhou Liqun, a consultant for National Development and Reform Commission of China, Chongqing's status as a National Central City would encourage the development of [[Western China]]. Chongqing, which is located in central-western China, would complement the other National Central Cities, all of which are located along China's eastern coastline.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6892862.html |title=Chongqing becomes 5th National Central city |publisher=People's Daily |date=10 February 2010 |access-date=10 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518015855/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6892862.html |archive-date=18 May 2013 |url-status=live  }}</ref> The same year on 18 June, the [[Liangjiang New Area]] was established in Chongqing, which was the third state-level [[new areas|new area]] at the time of its establishment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gochina.scmp.com/chongqing/business/room-expansion |title=Establishment of the Liangjiang New Area |publisher=Gochina.scmp.com |date=25 November 2013 |access-date=10 December 2013 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225054358/http://www.scmp.com/news/china }}</ref>

{| cellpadding="6"
| [[file:Chongqing Map Alt2.png|x350px]]
| {{color box|#404FD9}}{{color box|#979FEA}} Former Prefecture-Level City of Chongqing<br />{{color box|#22B14C}}{{color box|#97EAA5}} Former Prefecture-Level City of Fuling<br />{{color box|#FF9933}}{{color box|#FFCC66}} Former Prefecture-Level City of Wanxian<br />{{color box|#00A2E8}}{{color box|#57CDFF}} Former Prefecture of Qianjiang
| {{color box|#404FD9}} Districts composing the Main urban area of Chongqing city<Br>{{color box|#979FEA}}{{color box|#22B14C}}{{color box|#FF9933}}{{color box|#00A2E8}} Districts<br />{{color box|#97EAA5}}{{color box|#FFCC66}} Counties<br />{{color box|#57CDFF}} Autonomous Counties
|}