Subway systems are vital for alleviating traffic congestion and enhancing mobility in large urban centers. However, this infrastructure is not feasible for every city. Out of 297 district-level cities or higher in mainland China (administrative units directly under provinces, equivalent to regional economic centers), a Ministry of Transport report indicates that only 43 currently operate subway and light rail systems. These systems comprise a total of 286 lines, exceeding 10,000 kilometers in length. This figure solidifies China's position as a global leader in network scale.

These 43 urban centers include four major direct-controlled municipalities: Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing. They also encompass economically developed cities such as Shenzhen in Guangdong, Ningbo in Zhejiang, Qingdao in Shandong, and Dalian in Liaoning, as well as most provincial or autonomous region capitals.

Passengers wait for a train on line 13 in Beijing on 28/2/2025. Photo: VCG

Only four provincial or autonomous region capitals do not have subway systems: Lhasa in Tibet, Xining in Qinghai, Yinchuan in Ningxia, and Haikou in Hainan. Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, is a modernized city with a population exceeding 4 million and has had a subway since 2018.

Jiangsu is the province with the most cities boasting subway systems, including its capital Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Xuzhou, and Nantong. Guangdong province has four cities operating subway systems: its capital Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, and Dongguan.

Currently, more than 200 cities in 60 countries worldwide have subway systems. After China, India ranks second globally with 20 cities operating subway systems as of early 2026. The United States has approximately 15 cities, Japan has 13, and the United Kingdom has three.

With the exception of Beijing and Tianjin, most subway systems in other cities across mainland China commenced operations between 1990 and 2020.

Shanghai began subway operations in 1993, Guangzhou in 1997, and Shenzhen in 2004. These timelines reflect the pace of China's urban modernization.

The number of cities with subway systems in China has not seen significant growth since 2020. The primary reason is the high cost of constructing and operating these systems, which would impose a substantial financial burden on cities lacking sufficient resources.

Consequently, the Chinese government has established several conditions for a city to be permitted to build a subway system. These include: a public budget revenue exceeding 30 billion yuan (4.2 billion USD), a gross domestic product (GDP) above 300 billion yuan, and a permanent urban population in its inner districts of more than 3 million people.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) subsequently announced that it would not approve new subway cities during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).

Ranking of the 10 cities in China with the longest subway networks as of the end of 2025. Click here to view a larger image. Graphics: 21jingji

Given these conditions, subway construction plans for several cities have been halted, such as Quanzhou in Fujian. This city had planned a subway system in 2017 but has yet to receive approval because its population did not meet the required standards. Quanzhou is one of only two cities among China's 29 cities with a GDP exceeding 1 trillion yuan as of 2025 that lacks a subway. The other city is Tangshan in Hebei, which only joined the trillion-yuan GDP club in 2024.

Beyond leading the world in the number of cities with subways, China also accounts for nine out of the ten cities possessing the longest subway networks globally. The only foreign city in this ranking is Moscow, Russia.

Hong Hanh (Source: Our China Story, Baidu)