Abstract: Under the dual pressures of a declining total school-age population and drastic shifts in regional demographic distribution, the traditional county-based basic education management system has become inadequate in meeting the demand for cross-regional resource mobility. The Outline for Building a Strong Educational Nation (2024—2035) explicitly proposes establishing a “city-county integration” governance system, aimed at dismantling “county-level barriers” and enhancing the efficiency of resource coordination. The transition of primary-level educational governance toward “city-county integration” arises not only from external challenges such as structural imbalances and population mobility but also represents a natural evolution of China’s primary-level education management system—from “township-centered” to “county-centered,” and now toward “city-county integration”. Its theoretical foundation rests on a three-dimensional “affair-logic” comprising dynamics, operation, and objectives, drawing respectively on the theories of supply-side structural reform, grassroots educational governance, and coordinated regional development. The coordinated allocation of educational resources between city and county levels may be explored through the following operational mechanisms: First, a municipal-level coordination mechanism that strengthens top-down alignment and clarifies powers and responsibilities; second, a cross-jurisdictional allocation mechanism that facilitates the dynamic mobility of teaching staff, funding, and school placements; and third, a precision support mechanism focused on resource supplementation and distinctive development in special areas such as forest, pastoral, mountainous, island, and border regions.

Key words: “city-county integration” governance system, basic education management system, coordinated allocation of educational resources, cross-jurisdictional allocation mechanism, educational equity