The politics of Chongqing is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in the People's Republic of China (PRC).
The mayor of Chongqing is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Chongqing. As since 1997 Chongqing has been a centrally administered municipality, the mayor occupies the same level in the order of precedence as provincial governors. However, in the city's dual party-government governing system, the mayor has less power than the Chongqing Chinese Communist Party Municipal Committee Secretary, colloquially termed the "Chongqing CCP Party Chief".
Since 1997, the Chongqing Municipal Government has governed Chongqing. Chongqing was previously also governed by a municipal government between 1939 and 1954, but in 1929–1939 and 1954–1997, when Chongqing was a sub-provincial city rather than a centrally administered municipality, it was governed by the Chongqing City Government.