How to distinguish between prefecture-level cities and county-level cities

The differences between prefecture-level cities and county-level cities are as follows:

The difference between prefecture-level cities and county-level cities is that their jurisdictional units are different. Prefecture-level cities are under the jurisdiction of the province, and county-level cities are under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level cities. Therefore, the administrative level of prefecture-level cities is higher.

A prefecture-level city is one of the administrative regions in China. Its administrative status is the same as that of regions, autonomous prefectures, and leagues. It belongs to prefecture-level administrative regions and is governed by provinces and autonomous regions.

Prefecture-level cities, simply put, are the first-level governments under the provincial level, usually cities.

Prefecture-level cities evolved from regional administrative offices and originated from the "prefecture-to-city" and "prefecture-city merger" reforms in the 1980s.