Why does Kunshan belong to the second-tier city of Zhangjiagang instead of the urban area?

Although Zhangjiagang is named after the city, it is actually a county-level city, which is administratively under the jurisdiction of Suzhou. Since it is a county-level city, it is far from being a first-tier city. Generally only prefecture-level cities will be called first-tier cities.

Politically, China cities can be divided into the following levels: the first level, municipalities directly under the central government and special administrative regions, namely, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, Hong Kong and Macao; The second level, sub-provincial cities, 15 seats, are Guangzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Shenyang, Jinan, Chengdu, Xi 'an, Wuhan, Changchun, Harbin, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Dalian, Ningbo and Xiamen; The third level, prefecture-level cities; The fourth level, county-level cities. In terms of political status, Zhangjiagang belongs to the fourth class. Of course, from another dimension, Beishangguangshen and Shenzhen are first-tier cities, Hangzhou and Suzhou are relatively developed second-tier cities, and Zhangjiagang may not be able to squeeze into the third line. To sum up, Zhangjiagang is a fourth-tier city.

Shazhou County, the predecessor of Zhangjiagang, was founded in 1964, which was composed of scraps from Jiangyin and Changshu respectively. Although there is a long coastline of the Yangtze River, the neighboring Jiangyin, Changshu and Taicang are equally reluctant. Since 1986, it has been able to develop to the present situation, occupying the first place in the national county competitiveness for a long time, relying more on the spirit of Zhangjiagang, carrying forward with heavy burdens and exerting self-pressure. In particular, the achievement of the title of five consecutive national civilized cities fully embodies the spiritual core of urban development. As long as we can maintain an insatiable and upward state, it doesn't matter which city we are in now, but tomorrow will be better.