A sub-prefecture-level municipality (Chinese: 副地级市, pinyin: fùdìjíshì), sub-prefecture-level city, or vice-prefecture-level municipality, is an unofficial designation for a type of administrative division of China. A sub-prefecture-level city is officially considered to be a county-level city, but it has more power de facto because the cadres assigned to its government are one half-level higher in rank than those of an "ordinary" county-level city—though still lower than those of a prefecture-level city.
While county-level cities are under the administrative jurisdiction of prefecture-level divisions, sub-prefecture-level cities are often (but not always) administered directly by the provincial government, with no intervening prefecture level administration.
Examples of sub-prefecture-level cities that does not belong to any prefecture: Jiyuan (Henan Province), Xiantao, Qianjiang and Tianmen (Hubei), Shihezi, Tumxuk, Aral, and Wujiaqu (Xinjiang).
Examples of sub-prefecture-level cities that nevertheless belong to a prefecture: Golmud (Haixi, Qinghai), Manzhouli (Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia).