The east coast consists of Jinwan District, Xinxi District and Tagangwei District.

Shantou is a sub-central city in the province, one of the four cities in Chaoshan, a core city in Shantou-Chaoshan metropolitan area, an open coastal port city, a famous hometown of overseas Chinese in China, an excellent tourist city in China, a top 100 city with investment environment in China, a brand economy city in China, a national intellectual property work demonstration city, a national e-commerce demonstration city, a national information consumption pilot city, a national double-support model city, a China stationery production base and a national transportation hub city.