People's Republic of China The Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China () defines two terms in Chinese that are translated to "mainland": •
Dàlù (), which means 'the continent'. •
Nèidì (), literally 'inland' or 'inner land'. It excludes Hong Kong and Macau. In the PRC, usage of the two terms is not strictly interchangeable. To emphasise the
One-China policy and not give the ROC "equal footing" in
cross-strait relations, the term must be used in PRC's official contexts with reference to Taiwan (with the PRC referring to itself as the "mainland side" dealing with the "Taiwan side"). In fact, the PRC government mandates that journalists use "Taiwan" and "the Mainland" (Dàlù) as corresponding concepts. But in terms of Hong Kong and Macau, the PRC government refers to itself as "the Central People's Government". In the People's Republic of China, the term (Nèidì, 'inland') is often contrasted with the term ('outside the border') for things outside the mainland region. Examples include "Administration of Foreign-funded Banks" () or the "Measures on Administration of Representative Offices of Foreign Insurance Institutions" (). Before 1949, the Kinmen and Matsu islands, were jointly governed with the rest of Fujian Province under successive Chinese governments. The two territories are generally considered to belong to the same historical region, Fujian Province, which has been divided since 1949 as a result of the civil war. However, because they are not controlled by the PRC, they are not included as part of "mainland China". Some Internet platforms like
Bilibili bans the term "mainland China" on their website and considered its use promoting separatism and undermining the integrity of national sovereignty. They require that the term should be replaced as "Chinese mainland", "China's mainland" and "the mainland of China". According to the
Foreign Ministry of the People's Republic of China, "Chinese mainland" is the correct term because "mainland China" supposedly implies that there are other Chinas.
Hong Kong and Macau Hong Kong and
Macau have been territories of the PRC since 1997 and 1999 respectively. However, due to the
One Country, Two Systems policy, the two regions maintain a degree of autonomy, hence they are not governed as part of mainland China. Geographically speaking, Hong Kong and Macau are both connected to mainland China in certain areas (e.g. the north of the
New Territories). Additionally, the islands contained within Hong Kong (e.g.
Hong Kong Island) and Macau are much closer to mainland China than Taiwan and Hainan, and are much smaller. In Hong Kong and Macau, the terms "mainland China" and "mainlander" are frequently used for people from PRC-governed areas (i.e. not Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau). The Chinese term
Neidi (), meaning the
inland but still translated
mainland in English, is commonly applied by
SAR governments to represent non-SAR areas of PRC, including Hainan province and coastal regions of mainland China, such as "Constitutional and Mainland Affairs" () and Immigration Departments. In the
Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (as well as the
Mainland and Macau Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement) the CPG also uses the Chinese characters "inner land", with the note that they refer to the "customs territory of China".
Taiwan (Republic of China) in May 1979 (light green) Legal definitions followed in the 1990s. The 1991
Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China stated that "the handling of people's rights and obligations and other affairs between the free area and the mainland can be specially stipulated by law", and used the legal term "mainland area" without defining its geographical boundaries. The 1992 Regulations on the Relations between the People in Taiwan and the Mainland defined "Taiwan" as areas controlled by the ROC and "mainland" as "the territory of the Republic of China". The related
Cross-Strait Act called those under PRC jurisdiction - excluding those in Hong Kong and Macau - as "people of the mainland area", and used "
free area of the Republic of China" to describe areas under ROC control. The issue on the mainland's territory also stated in the
Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 328 in 1993. In 2012, the
Supreme Court of the Republic of China's judgment #900 labeled the
Macao Special Administrative Region as the "Mainland's Macau Area". The 2002 amendments to the
executive order Enforcement Rules for the Act Governing Relations between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area defined the mainland as areas claimed but not controlled by the ROC, corresponding to "areas under control of the
Chinese Communists" (within the
de facto borders of the People's Republic of China). Views of the term "mainland China" () vary on Taiwan. During the
Dangguo era, the KMT had previously referred to the territories under the control of the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by several different names, e.g. "(territory controlled by the)
Communist bandits", "occupied/unfree area (of China)", "Communist China" (as opposed to either "Nationalist China" or "Democratic China"), "Red China" (as opposed to "Blue China"), and "mainland China (area)". In modern times, many of these terms have fallen out of use. The terms "mainland China" () or "the mainland" () still remain in popular use, but some also simply use the term "China" (). The former term is generally preferred by the
Pan-Blue Coalition led by the KMT, while the latter term is preferred by the
Pan-Green Coalition led by the
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which opposes the term "mainland" and its suggestion that Taiwan is part of China. This has caused many political debates. == Mainland China ==