Administrative division is the spatial foundation and system support of frontier governance modernization. Since the 18th National Congress of CPC，the state has attached great importance to the scientific and reasonable setting of administrative divisions in border areas，and produced a series of new ideas and new breakthroughs，which are of great significance to accelerate the realization of high-quality development in border areas. The study shows that since the reform and opening-up，the adjustment of administrative divisions in border areas can be divided into four stages：restoration of new establishment，establishment of city to govern the border，structural adjustment and system optimization. However，due to the characteristics of large topographic relief，weak endogenous power and strong policy influence，the administrative division setting in frontier areas still faces many challenges. Since entering the new era，the new idea of administrative division reform in frontier areas has been gradually established and many new breakthroughs have been made. Finally，this study puts forward some policy suggestions for the reform of administrative division in border areas.