Area (Beijing)


Area is a type of township-level divisions of China that is only used within Beijing. It is an intermediate designation between the rural township or town and the more urban subdistrict, and is given to settlements resembling desakotas.
Usually, each area within Beijing will also carry its previous respective designation as a town or township, and the town/township government will take additional role as the area office. Such a system is referred to as "One agency, two nameplates". For the most part, the area and town/township will share the same place name, such as Nanmofang and Liangxiang. However, there are also exceptions, such as the town name of Wanliu Area being Haidian. As of 2025, however, most official sources have begun to drop the 'area' name, and instead solely use 'town' or 'township'.

History

Area as a township-level divisions was first implemented inside Chaoyang District, with the creation of 4 areas in 1993. Below is a table listing the creation dates of all areas:
YearDistrictAreas Created
1993ChaoyangNanmofang, Gaobeidian, Jiangtai and Taiyanggong
1994MentougouWangping
1998ShunyiRenhe, Houshayu, Tianzhu, Yangzhen, Niulanshan and Nanfaxin
1999ChaoyangSunhe
1999FangshanLiangxiang
1999ShunyiMapo
1999ChangpingNankou, Machikou and Shahe
2000FangshanZhoukoudian and Liulihe
2000TongzhouLiyuan and Yongshun
2001HaidianWanliu and Dongsheng
2002ChaoyangXiaohongmen and Changying
2002HuairouHuairou, Yanqi and Miaocheng
2002PingguYuyang, Yukou, Mafang and Jinhaihu
2003ChaoyangShibalidian, Pingfang, Dongfeng, Laiguangying, Sanjianfang, Guanzhuang and Dongba
2004ChaoyangJinzhan, Cuigezhuang, Heizhuanghu, Dougezhuang and Wangsiying
2004ChangpingDongxiaokou and Huilongguan
2005DaxingYizhuang, Huangcun, Jiugong and Xihongmen
2005MiyunTanying
2007DaxingYinghai
2010FengtaiLugouqiao, Huaxiang and Nanyuan
2011HaidianWenquan, Sijiqing, Xibeiwang, Sujiatuo and Shangzhuang
2012MentougouYongding and Longquan

List of all current areas

As of 2021, these were a total of 56 areas within Beijing. They are listed as follows:

Chaoyang District">Chaoyang District, Beijing">Chaoyang District

[Haidian District]

[Mentougou District]

[Fangshan District]

[Shunyi District]

[Changping District]

[Daxing District]

[Huairou District]

[Pinggu District]

[Miyun District]