An established town means an established town approved by the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. Refers to the town established by the state according to the administrative system, excluding the county town.

In China, the name "Town" first appeared in the Northern Wei Dynasty in the 4th century, and it was a small military stronghold. By the time the commodity economy was developed in the Song Dynasty, the town became a local administrative system with concentrated commerce and handicrafts and below the county level. The conditions for building a town have different regulations in different countries; In the same country, there are corresponding regulations for different regions and at different stages of development. Since the founding of New China, the standards for setting up towns have changed three times. Since 1984, the new basic conditions for establishing a town are: the county-level government is located and the non-agricultural population accounts for more than10% of the total population of the township, and its absolute number exceeds 2,000, and the provinces (autonomous regions) are allowed to make appropriate adjustments to the conditions for establishing a town according to the actual situation. According to the academic circles in China, the specific criteria for establishing a town (established town) are: the resident population living in compact communities is 2000.