The district head of a county-level unit is equivalent to the county magistrate, lower than the mayor (prefecture-level city) and higher than the township head (mayor). In China, the district head is actually the second-in-command of a district, second only to the district party secretary, usually the deputy secretary of the district party committee.

For example, the abbreviation of autonomous region is also district. This district is a provincial unit. The chairman of the autonomous region government is equivalent to the governor. This district is bigger than the county party secretary in the long run. For example, the districts under the jurisdiction of municipalities directly under the Central Government are prefecture-level units, such as Xuhui District in Shanghai. The district chief is also bigger than the county party secretary. For another example, the districts under the jurisdiction of sub-provincial cities are sub-prefecture-level units, such as Shangcheng District of Hangzhou. This district head is bigger than the county party secretary.

The districts under the jurisdiction of general prefecture-level cities are county-level units. As far as the unit is concerned, such districts and counties are at the same level. However, since the Party committee is bigger than the government, the secretary of the county party committee is older than the district. Some counties or county-level cities are also divided into districts, such as development zones. Such a district is usually just a department-level unit. This district level is smaller than the county party committee secretary. On the whole, if this district is greater than the county level, then the district head is greater than the county party secretary; If this district is smaller than the county level, then this district head is smaller than the county party secretary; If this district is equivalent to the county level, then the district head is still smaller than the county party secretary.