The subdistrict (Chinese: 街道; pinyin: jiē dào, literally "Street") is one of the smallest political divisions of the People's Republic of China. It is a form of township-level division which is typically part of a larger urban area, as opposed to a discrete town surrounded by rural areas, or a rural township known as a xiang (乡).
In general, urban areas are divided into subdistricts, and a subdistrict is sub-divided into several residential communities or neighbourhoods as well as into villagers' groups (居民区/居住区,小区/社区,村民小组).
The subdistrict's administrative agency is the subdistrict office (Chinese: 街道办事处; pinyin: jīedào bànshìchù) or simply the jiedao ban (街道办,jiēdào bàn).