A
sub-prefecture-level municipality (,
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.