November 1931, the Chinese Soviet Republic was proclaimed in , in the then-county of Ruijin. During the subsequent years, Ganzhou was governed by the Jiangxi–Fujian Soviet. Beginning in February 1934, Communist Party forces in the area began to lose territory to Kuomintang forces (Fifth encirclement). From then until March 1935, the Soviet gradually lost territory with only five northeastern counties left in Ganzhou as of early October 1934 until it collapsed. Gannan New Deal Between 1939 and 1945, Chiang Ching-kuo, son of Chiang Kai-shek, was appointed by the Government of the Republic of China as commissioner of Ganzhou Prefecture (mountain South), then the name of the surrounding regions of Ganzhou. There he banned opium smoking, gambling and prostitution, studied governmental management, allowed for economic expansion and a change in social outlook. His efforts were hailed as a miracle in the political war in China, then coined as the "Gannan New Deal" (). During his time in Gannan, from 1940 he implemented a "public information desk" where ordinary people could visit him if they had problems, and according to records, Chiang Ching-kuo received a total of 1,023 people during such sessions in 1942. In regards to the ban on prostitution and closing of brothels, Chiang implemented a policy where former prostitutes became employed in factories. Due to the large number of refugees in Ganzhou as a result from the ongoing war, thousands of orphans lived on the street; in June 1942, Chiang Ching-kuo formally established the Chinese Children's Village () in the outskirts of Ganzhou, with facilities such as a nursery, kindergarten, primary school, hospital and gymnasium. People's Republic of China On August 14, 1949, the People's Liberation Army established control of Gan County. In June 1951, Ganzhou Prefecture () was established. In February 1999, Ganzhou was changed from a prefecture to a prefecture-level city. Administration Ganzhou has jurisdiction over 3 districts, 2 county-level cities, 13 counties: District Zhanggong District () Nankang District () Ganxian District () County-level cities Ruijin () Longnan () Counties Yudu County () Xingguo County () Ningdu County () Shicheng County () Huichang County () Xunwu County () Anyuan County () Dingnan County () Quannan County () Xinfeng County () Dayu County () Chongyi County () Shangyou County () Geography Ganzhou is a large city covering the southern third of Jiangxi, with an area of . More than 70% of its administrative area is forested, and over