Who Governs the Greater Khingan? Administration, Land and Forest Enterprise

The Greater Khingan is a prefecture-level administrative region of Heilongjiang governed by an administrative office, or xingshu. Its current units include Mohe City, Huma County, Tahe County and four districts: Gagdachi, Songling, Xinlin and Huzhong. The prefecture does not contain a prefecture-level city. Gagdachi serves as the administrative seat, but this does not make the prefecture equivalent to a conventional city government or imply that all local functions sit within one municipal structure.

Gagdachi and Songling are the key exception to a simple map reading. Official prefectural planning documents say they remain under the Greater Khingan’s administration even though their land jurisdiction belongs to Inner Mongolia. This arrangement followed boundary changes that left the two areas under Heilongjiang’s administrative control while preserving the original land jurisdiction. A map that colors the administrative unit alone can therefore give a misleading impression of land ownership or provincial territory.

For decades, local government and state forestry management were closely intertwined. The Greater Khingan Forestry Group was formally separated from the prefecture’s administrative office in 2020, marking a clearer distinction between government and enterprise. Forestry administrations and forest bureaus still matter to the region’s economy and land management, but they are not identical to county or district governments. Keeping these institutions distinct helps readers understand who governs residents, who manages state forest operations and how different responsibilities overlap.