The legal basis for the establishment of SARs, unlike the administrative divisions of Mainland China, is provided for by Article 31, rather than Article 30, of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China of 1982.
As bases xurídicas para o establecemento das RAEs, a diferenza das divisións administrativas da China continental, están previstas no artigo 31, en lugar do artigo 30 da Constitución da República Popular China de 1982.