Editing Shanghai (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Shanghai}}
{{For timeline}}

===Antiquity===
The western part of modern-day Shanghai was inhabited 6,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://museum.shqp.gov.cn/gb/content/2009-03/03/content_238558.htm|title=The Shanghainese of 6000 Years Ago – the Majiabang Culture|publisher=Shanghai Qingpu Museum|access-date=24 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104183445/http://museum.shqp.gov.cn/gb/content/2009-03/03/content_238558.htm|archive-date=4 January 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> During the [[Spring and Autumn period]] (approximately 771 to 476 BC), it belonged to the [[Wu (state)|Kingdom of Wu]], which was conquered by the [[Yue (state)|Kingdom of Yue]], which in turn was conquered by the Kingdom of Chu.<ref name="ancient">{{cite web |title=Ancient History |url = http://shanghai.cultural-china.com/html/History-of-Shanghai/History/Brief-History/200810/16-218.html |website=cultural-china.com |access-date=26 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130616022620/http://shanghai.cultural-china.com/html/History-of-Shanghai/History/Brief-History/200810/16-218.html |archive-date=16 June 2013}}</ref> During the [[Warring States period]] (475 BC), Shanghai was part of the fief of [[Lord Chunshen]] of Chu, one of the [[Four Lords of the Warring States]]. He ordered the excavation of the [[Huangpu River]]. Its former or poetic name, the Chunshen River, gave Shanghai its nickname of "Shēn".<ref name="ancient" /> Fishermen living in the Shanghai area then created a fish tool called the ''hù'', which lent its name to the outlet of Suzhou Creek north of the [[Old City of Shanghai|Old City]] and became a common nickname and [[Chinese abbreviations|abbreviation]] for the city.<ref>{{cite web |script-title=zh:"申"、"沪"的由来 |url=http://www.shanghai.gov.cn/nw2/nw2314/nw3766/nw3767/nw3768/u1aw12.html |website=shanghai.gov.cn |access-date=1 October 2019 |language=zh-cn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001111540/http://www.shanghai.gov.cn/nw2/nw2314/nw3766/nw3767/nw3768/u1aw12.html |archive-date=1 October 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Imperial era===

==== Tang, Song, Yuan dynasties ====
During the Tang and Song dynasties, Qinglong Town ({{lang|zh-Hans|青龙镇}}{{Efn|{{lang-zh|t=青龍鎮}}|name=|group=}}) in modern [[Qingpu District]] was a major trading port. Established in 746 (the fifth year of the Tang [[Tianbao era]]), it developed into what was historically called a "giant town of the Southeast", with thirteen temples and seven pagodas. [[Mi Fu]], a scholar and artist of the Song dynasty, served as its mayor. The port experienced thriving trade with provinces along the [[Yangtze]] and the Chinese coast, as well as with foreign countries such as Japan and [[Silla]].<ref name="kaogu">{{cite web |url=http://www.kaogu.cn/zixun/zixun/shidafaxain/2017/0324/57570.html |script-title=zh:上海青浦青龙镇遗址 |trans-title=Ruins of Qinglong Town in Qingpu, Shanghai |publisher=[[Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]] |date=24 March 2017 |access-date=16 July 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170831221826/http://www.kaogu.cn/zixun/zixun/shidafaxain/2017/0324/57570.html |archive-date=31 August 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> By the end of the [[Song dynasty]], the center of trading had moved downstream of the [[Wusong River]] to Shanghai.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thepaper.cn/baidu.jsp?contid=1577571 |script-title=zh:青龙镇考古：上海首个贸易港，为何人称"小杭州" |publisher=Thepaper.cn |date=10 December 2016 |access-date=16 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911071123/http://www.thepaper.cn/baidu.jsp?contid=1577571 |archive-date=11 September 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> It was upgraded in status from a village to a market town in 1074, and in 1172, a second sea wall was built to stabilize the ocean coastline, supplementing an earlier dike.<ref>Danielson, Eric N., Shanghai and the [[Yangzi Delta]], 2004, p.9.</ref> From the [[Yuan dynasty]] in 1292 until Shanghai officially became a [[municipality]] in 1927, central Shanghai was administered as a county under Songjiang Prefecture, which had its seat in the present-day [[Songjiang District]].<ref>Danielson, Eric N., Shanghai and the Yangzi Delta, 2004, p.9, pp.11–12, p.34.</ref>

==== Ming dynasty ====
[[File:Map of the Old City of Shanghai.jpg|thumb|Seventeenth century map of the Old City of Shanghai]]
Two important events helped promote Shanghai's developments in the [[Ming dynasty]]. A [[city wall]] was built for the first time in 1554 to protect the town from raids by [[Wokou|Japanese pirates]]. It measured {{convert|10|m|0|sp=us|abbr=on}} high and {{convert|5|km|0|sp=us|abbr=on}} in circumference.<ref name="Danielson, Eric N. 2004, p.10">Danielson, Eric N., Shanghai and the Yangzi Delta, 2004, p.10.</ref> A [[City God Temple of Shanghai|City God Temple]] was built in 1602 during the [[Wanli Emperor|Wanli]] reign. This honor was usually reserved for prefectural capitals and not normally given to a mere county seat such as Shanghai. Scholars have theorized that this likely reflected the town's economic importance, as opposed to its low political status.<ref name="Danielson, Eric N. 2004, p.10" />

==== Qing dynasty ====
During the [[Qing dynasty]], Shanghai became one of the most important seaports in the [[Yangtze Delta]] region as a result of two important central government policy changes: in 1684, the [[Kangxi Emperor]] reversed the Ming dynasty prohibition on oceangoing vessels—a ban that had been in force since 1525; and in 1732, the [[Qianlong Emperor]] moved the customs office for [[Jiangsu]] province ({{linktext|lang=zh-Hans|江|海|关}};{{Efn|{{lang-zh|t=江海關}}|name=|group=}} see [[Customs House, Shanghai]]) from the prefectural capital of [[Songjiang, Shanghai|Songjiang]] to Shanghai, and gave Shanghai exclusive control over customs collections for Jiangsu's foreign trade. As a result of these two critical decisions, Shanghai became the major trade port for all of the lower Yangtze region by 1735, despite still being at the lowest administrative level in the political hierarchy.<ref>Danielson, Eric N., Shanghai and the Yangtze Delta, 2004, pp.10–11.</ref>

<gallery widths="155">
File:%E6%96%B9%E5%A1%942.JPG|[[Songjiang Square Pagoda]], built in the 11th century
File:Zhenrusi Dadian.JPG|The [[Mahavira Hall]] at [[Zhenru Temple (Shanghai)|Zhenru Temple]], built in 1320
File:Old City of Shanghai will walls and seafront.jpg|The walled [[Old City of Shanghai]] in the 17th century
</gallery>[[File:Shanghai 1884.jpg|thumb|right|A map of Shanghai in 1884; Chinese area are in yellow, French in red, British in blue, American in orange.|alt=]]
In the 19th century, international attention to Shanghai grew due to [[Europe]] and recognition of its economic and trade potential at the [[Yangtze]]. During the [[First Opium War]] (1839–1842), British forces occupied the city.<ref>Rait, Robert S. (1903). ''[https://archive.org/stream/cu31924088002120#page/n307/mode/2up The Life and Campaigns of Hugh, First Viscount Gough, Field-Marshal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407043230/https://archive.org/stream/cu31924088002120#page/n307/mode/2up |date=7 April 2016}}''. Volume 1. p.&nbsp;267–268</ref> The war ended in 1842 with the [[Treaty of Nanking]], which opened Shanghai as one of the five [[treaty ports]] for international trade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scmp.com/article/974360/opium-war-or-how-hong-kong-began|title=The Opium war (or how Hong Kong began)|work=South China Morning Post|date=24 July 2011 |access-date=2 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506094130/http://www.scmp.com/article/974360/opium-war-or-how-hong-kong-began|archive-date=6 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Treaty of the Bogue]], the [[Treaty of Wanghia]], and the [[Treaty of Whampoa]] (signed in 1843, 1844, and 1844, respectively) forced Chinese concession to European and American desires for visitation and trade on Chinese soil. Britain, France, and the [[United States]] all established a presence outside the walled city of Shanghai, which remained under the direct administration of the Chinese.<ref name="SHChronicles">{{cite web |script-title = zh:上海通志 总述 |trans-title = General History of Shanghai – Overview |publisher = Office of Shanghai Chronicles |url = http://www.shtong.gov.cn/dfz_web/DFZ/Info?idnode=4560&tableName=userobject1a&id=101941 |date = 1 July 2008 |access-date = 2 October 2019 |language = zh |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181125124109/http://www.shtong.gov.cn/dfz_web/DFZ/Info?idnode=4560&tableName=userobject1a&id=101941 |archive-date = 25 November 2018 |url-status = live}}</ref>

The Chinese-held Old City of Shanghai fell to rebels from the [[Small Swords Society]] in 1853, but control of the city was regained by the Qing government in February 1855.<ref>Scarne, John. ''[https://archive.org/stream/twelveyearsinchi00scarrich Twelve years in China] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728114957/http://www.archive.org/stream/twelveyearsinchi00scarrich |date=28 July 2014}}.'' Edinburgh: Constable, 1860: 187–209.</ref> In 1854, the [[Shanghai Municipal Council]] was created to manage the foreign settlements. Between 1860 and 1862, the [[Taiping Rebellion|Taiping rebels]] [[Battle of Shanghai (1861)|twice attacked]] Shanghai and destroyed the city's eastern and southern suburbs, but failed to take the city.<ref name="WellWilli">Williams, S. Wells. ''[http://hdl.handle.net/2027/yale.39002013393773 The Middle Kingdom: A Survey of the Geography, Government, Literature, Social Life, Arts, and History of the Chinese Empire and its Inhabitants]'', Vol. 1, p. 107. Scribner (New York), 1904.</ref> In 1863, the British settlement to the south of [[Suzhou Creek]] (northern [[Huangpu District, Shanghai|Huangpu District]]) and the American settlement to the north (southern [[Hongkou District]]) joined in order to form the [[Shanghai International Settlement]]. The French opted out of the Shanghai Municipal Council and maintained [[Shanghai French Concession|its own concession]] at the city's south and southwest.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fotw.info/flags/cn-sha.html |title=Shanghai International Settlement |publisher=Flag of the World |access-date=2 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514213116/https://www.fotw.info/flags/cn-sha.html |archive-date=14 May 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Dismantlement of Old City walls.jpg|thumb|The dismantlement of Old City walls, 1912|alt=]]
The [[First Sino-Japanese War]] concluded with the 1895 [[Treaty of Shimonoseki]], which elevated Japan to become another foreign power in Shanghai. Japan built the first factories in Shanghai, which was soon copied by other foreign powers. All this international activity gave Shanghai the nickname "the Great [[Athens]] of China".<ref>Gordon Cumming, C. F. (Constance Frederica), "The inventor of the numeral-type for China by the use of which illiterate Chinese both blind and sighted can very quickly be taught to read and write fluently", London: Downey, 1899, [https://archive.org/stream/inventorofnumera00gordiala/inventorofnumera00gordiala_djvu.txt archive.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729170142/http://www.archive.org/stream/inventorofnumera00gordiala/inventorofnumera00gordiala_djvu.txt|date=29 July 2014}}</ref>

=== Republic era ===
The [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] was established in 1912. The same year, the Old City walls were dismantled as they blocked the city's expansion.<ref>{{Cite web |last=洪智勤 |title=上海市区最后的古城墙在哪里？这些青砖堆砌的故事讲给你听 |url=https://sh.cctv.com/2021/10/25/ARTI453skr2sveNRhYx54j4u211025.shtml |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=sh.cctv.com |archive-date=7 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907214638/https://sh.cctv.com/2021/10/25/ARTI453skr2sveNRhYx54j4u211025.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> In July 1921, the [[Chinese Communist Party]] was founded in the [[Shanghai French Concession]].<ref name="SHChronicles" /> On 30 May 1925, the [[May Thirtieth Movement]] broke out when a worker in a Japanese-owned [[cotton mill]] was shot and killed by a Japanese foreman.<ref name="Ku">Ku, Hung-Ting [1979] (1979). Urban Mass Movement: The May Thirtieth Movement in Shanghai. Modern Asian Studies, Vol.13, No.2. pp.197–216</ref> Workers in the city then launched [[general strikes]] against [[imperialism]], which became nationwide protests that gave rise to [[Chinese nationalism]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Cathal J. Nolan|title=The Greenwood Encyclopedia of International Relations: S-Z|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FMJ8KP8i3v0C&pg=PA1509|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-32383-6|page=1509}}</ref>

The golden age of Shanghai began with its elevation to municipality after it was separated from [[Jiangsu]] on 7 July 1927.<ref name="SHChronicles" /><ref name="GovHistory">{{cite web |script-title=zh:第一卷 建置沿革 |publisher = Office of Shanghai Chronicles |url = http://www.shtong.gov.cn/dfz_web/DFZ/PianInfo?idnode=4562&tableName=userobject1a&id=-1 |date = 2 July 2008 |access-date = 2 October 2019 |language = zh-cn |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181025041944/http://www.shtong.gov.cn/dfz_web/DFZ/PianInfo?idnode=4562&tableName=userobject1a&id=-1 |archive-date = 25 October 2018 |url-status = live}}</ref> This new Chinese municipality covered an area of {{convert|494.69|km2|1|sp=us|abbr=on}}, including the modern-day districts of [[Baoshan District, Shanghai|Baoshan]], [[Yangpu District|Yangpu]], [[Zhabei]], [[Nanshi District, Shanghai|Nanshi]], and [[Pudong]], but excluded the foreign concessions territories.<ref name="GovHistory" /> Headed by a Chinese mayor and municipal council, the new city government's first task—the [[Greater Shanghai Plan]]—was to create a new city center in Jiangwan town of Yangpu district, outside the boundaries of the foreign concessions. The plan included a public museum, library, sports stadium, and city hall, which were partially constructed before being interrupted by the Japanese invasion.<ref>Danielson, Eric N., Shanghai and the Yangzi Delta, 2004, p.&nbsp;34.</ref> In the 1920s, ''[[shidaiqu]]'' became a new form of entertainment and was popularised in Shanghai.<ref>{{cite book |last=Liu |first=Siyuan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXAyEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA225 |title=Transforming Tradition |date=2013 |isbn=9780472132478 |edition=2nd Revised |page=225 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |via=Google Books |access-date=25 August 2022 |archive-date=13 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813210929/https://books.google.com/books?id=mXAyEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA225 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The city flourished, becoming a primary commercial and financial hub of the [[Asia-Pacific]] region in the 1930s.<ref name="1930hub">{{cite web|url=http://www.hkjournal.org/PDF/2009_winter/3.pdf|title=Shanghai: Global financial center? Aspirations and reality, and implications for Hong Kong|author=Scott Tong|date=October 2009|work=Hong Kong Journal|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624000600/http://www.hkjournal.org/PDF/2009_winter/3.pdf|archive-date=24 June 2011|access-date=17 October 2011}}
</ref> During the ensuing decades, citizens of many countries and all continents came to Shanghai to live and work; those who stayed for long periods⁠⁠—some for generations⁠—called themselves "[[Shanghailander]]s".<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/sincities/shanghai.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401164357/http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/sincities/shanghai.html |title=Shanghai: Paradise for adventurers |date=1 April 2009 |type=Documentary |publisher=CBC - TV |archive-date=1 April 2009}}</ref> In the 1920s and 1930s, almost 20,000 [[White Movement|White Russians]] fled the newly established [[Soviet Union]] to reside in Shanghai.<ref>{{cite web |title =Shanghai's White Russians (1937) |publisher =SHANGHAI SOJOURNS |url =http://shanghaisojourns.net/shanghais-dancing-world/2018/8/21/shanghais-white-russians-1937 |date =21 August 2018 |access-date =2 October 2019 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20190324112736/http://shanghaisojourns.net/shanghais-dancing-world/2018/8/21/shanghais-white-russians-1937 |archive-date =24 March 2019 |url-status =live}}</ref> These [[Shanghai Russians]] constituted the second-largest foreign community. By 1932, Shanghai had become the world's fifth-largest city and home to 70,000 foreigners.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.talesofoldchina.com/library/allaboutshanghai/t-all04.htm |title=All About Shanghai. Chapter 4 – Population |website=Tales of Old Shanghai |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100520024207/https://www.talesofoldchina.com/library/allaboutshanghai/t-all04.htm |archive-date=20 May 2010}}</ref> In the 1930s, some 30,000 Jewish refugees from Europe arrived in the city.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1828102,00.html |title=Shanghai Sanctuary |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814051154/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1828102,00.html |archive-date=14 August 2009 |date=31 July 2008}}</ref>

<gallery widths="155">
File:1937 Shanghai, China VP8.webm|Shanghai, filmed in 1937
File:Shanghai Bund seen from the French Concession.jpg|[[The Bund]] in the late 1920s seen from the [[Shanghai French Concession|French Concession]]
File:Shanghai tram, British section, 1920s, John Rossman's collection.jpg|[[Nanjing Road|Nanking Road]] (modern-day [[East Nanjing Road]]) in the 1930s
File:Shanghai Park Hotel 2007.jpg|alt=Shanghai Park Hotel was the tallest building in Asia for decades|[[Park Hotel Shanghai|Shanghai Park Hotel]] was the tallest building in Asia for decades.
File:Former Shanghai Library.jpg|Former [[Shanghai Library]]
File:The Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, built in 1923 and The Customs House built in 1927.jpg|The [[HSBC Building, the Bund|HSBC Building]], built in 1923, and the [[Custom House, Shanghai|Customs House]], built-in 1927
</gallery>

==== Japanese invasion ====
{{Main|Battle of Shanghai}}
[[File:Shanghai1937city zhabei fire.jpg|thumb|[[Zhabei District]] on fire, 1937|alt=]]
On [[January 28 incident|28 January 1932]], Japanese military forces invaded Shanghai while the Chinese resisted. More than 10,000 shops and hundreds of factories and public buildings<ref>{{cite book |title=A Description of the Oriental Library Before and After the Destruction by Japanese on February 1, 1932 |author=Board of Directors of the Oriental Library |publisher=Mercury Press |date=1932| page=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qf3EAAAAIAAJ|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907214638/https://books.google.com/books?id=qf3EAAAAIAAJ |archive-date=7 September 2024}}</ref> were destroyed, leaving Zhabei district ruined. About 18,000 civilians were either killed, injured, or declared missing.<ref name="SHChronicles" /> A ceasefire was brokered on 5 May.<ref>{{cite web |script-title=zh:图说上海一二八事变----战争罪行 |website = archives.sh.cn |url = http://www.archives.sh.cn/shjy/tssh/201303/t20130313_38117.html |access-date = 3 October 2019 |language = zh |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180204225310/http://www.archives.sh.cn/shjy/tssh/201303/t20130313_38117.html |archive-date = 4 February 2018 |url-status = live}}</ref> In 1937, the [[Battle of Shanghai]] resulted in the occupation of the Chinese-administered parts of Shanghai outside of the International Settlement and the French Concession. People who stayed in the occupied city suffered on a daily basis, experiencing hunger, oppression, or death.<ref>Nicole Huang, "Introduction," in Eileen Chang, Written on Water, translated by Andrew F. Jones (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005), XI</ref> The foreign concessions were ultimately occupied by the Japanese on 8 December 1941 and remained occupied until Japan's surrender in 1945; multiple [[Japanese war crimes|war crimes]] were committed during that time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-06/16/content_3094613.htm |title=149 comfort women houses discovered in Shanghai |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201080455/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-06/16/content_3094613.htm |archive-date=1 December 2008 |publisher=Xinhua News Agency |date=16 June 2005}}</ref>

A side-effect of the Japanese invasion of Shanghai was the [[Shanghai Ghetto]]. A vice-consul for Japan in Lithuania, [[Chiune Sugihara]], issued thousands of visas to Jewish refugees who were escaping the [[Holocaust]]. They traveled from [[Keidan]], Lithuania and across Russia by railroad to [[Vladivostok]] from where they traveled by ship to [[Kobe]], Japan. Their stay in Kobe was short as the Japanese government transferred them to Shanghai by November 1941. Other Jewish refugees found haven in Shanghai on ships from Italy. The refugees from Europe were interned into a cramped ghetto in the Hongkou District and after the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], even the Iraqi Jews who had been living in Shanghai from before the outbreak of WWII were interned. Among the refugees in the Shanghai Ghetto was the [[Mir Yeshiva (Belarus)|Mirrer Yeshiva]], including its students and faculty. On 3 September 1945, the Chinese Army liberated the Ghetto and most of the Jews left over the next few years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/11/shanghais-forgotten-jewish-past/281713/ |title=Shanghai's Forgotten Jewish Past |last=Griffiths |first=James |work=The Atlantic |date=21 December 2013 |access-date=30 June 2021 |archive-date=20 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620014031/https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/11/shanghais-forgotten-jewish-past/281713/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== People's Republic era ===
On 27 May 1949, the [[People's Liberation Army]] took control of Shanghai through the [[Shanghai Campaign]]. Under the new People's Republic of China (PRC), Shanghai was one of only three municipalities not merged into neighboring provinces (the others being [[Beijing]] and [[Tianjin]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.earnshaw.com/shanghai-ed-india/tales/t-monde2.htm |title=Changhai est tombé sans combat |language=fr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928152915/https://www.earnshaw.com/shanghai-ed-india/tales/t-monde2.htm |archive-date=28 September 2011 |work=Le Monde |date=27 May 1949}}</ref> Most foreign firms moved their offices from Shanghai to [[Hong Kong]], as part of a foreign [[divestment]] due to the PRC's victory.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Thompson |year=1979 |title=China's Nationalization of Foreign Firms: The Politics of Hostage Capitalism, 1949–1957 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/56353790.pdf |publisher=University of Maryland School of Law |page=16 |isbn=0-942182-26-X |access-date=27 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223100622/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/56353790.pdf |archive-date=23 February 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>[[File:1967-12 1967年 上海市南京路夜景.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Nanjing Road]], 1967, during the [[Cultural Revolution]]]]
After the war, Shanghai's economy was restored—from 1949 to 1952, the city's agricultural and industrial output increased by 51.5% and 94.2%, respectively.<ref name="SHChronicles" /> There were 20 urban districts and 10 suburbs at the time.<ref name="toponymy">{{cite web |script-title = zh:上海地名志 总述 |publisher = Office of Shanghai Chronicles |url = http://www.shtong.gov.cn/dfz_web/DFZ/Info?idnode=70865&tableName=userobject1a&id=73521 |date = 3 August 2004 |access-date = 3 October 2019 |language = zh-cn |archive-date = 24 March 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200324142023/http://www.shtong.gov.cn/dfz_web/DFZ/Info?idnode=70865&tableName=userobject1a&id=73521 |url-status = dead}}</ref> On 17 January 1958, [[Jiading District|Jiading]], Baoshan, and [[Shanghai County]] in Jiangsu became part of Shanghai Municipality, which expanded to {{convert|863|km2|1|sp=us|abbr=on}}. The following December, the land area of Shanghai was further expanded to {{convert|5910|km2|1|sp=us|abbr=on}} after more surrounding suburban areas in Jiangsu were added: [[Chongming District|Chongming]], [[Jinshan District|Jinshan]], [[Qingpu, Shanghai|Qingpu]], [[Fengxian District|Fengxian]], [[Chuansha County|Chuansha]], and [[Nanhui County|Nanhui]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Pacione |first=Michael |date=4 December 2014 |title=Problems and Planning in Third World Cities |publisher=Routledge Revivals |isbn=9780415705936}}</ref> In 1964, the city's administrative divisions were rearranged to 10 urban districts and 10 counties.<ref name="toponymy" />

As the industrial center of China with the most skilled industrial workers, Shanghai became a center for radical [[Left-wing politics|leftism]] during the 1950s and 1960s. The radical leftist [[Jiang Qing]] and her three allies, together the [[Gang of Four]], were based in the city.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=b3MX4eQrl50C&pg=PA66 ''Shanghai: transformation and modernization under China's open policy''. By Yue-man Yeung, Sung Yun-wing, page 66] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907214639/https://books.google.com/books?id=b3MX4eQrl50C&pg=PA66#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=7 September 2024}}, Chinese University Press, 1996</ref> During the [[Cultural Revolution]] (1966–1976), Shanghai's society was severely damaged. The majority of the workers in the Shanghai branch of the [[People's Bank of China]] were [[Red Guards]] and they formed a group called the Anti-Economy Liaison Headquarters within the branch.<ref name="Liu-2023">{{Cite book |last=Liu |first=Zongyuan Zoe |title=Sovereign Funds: How the Communist Party of China Finances its Global Ambitions |publisher=The Belknap Press of [[Harvard University Press]] |year=2023 |isbn=9780674271913 |pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=38}} The Anti-Economy Liaison Headquarters dismantled economic organizations in Shanghai, investigated bank withdrawals, and disrupted regular bank service in the city.<ref name="Liu-2023" />{{Rp|page=38}}The Shanghai People's Commune was established in the city during the [[January Storm]] of 1967. Despite the disruptions of the Cultural Revolution, Shanghai maintained economic production with a positive annual growth rate.<ref name="SHChronicles" />

During the [[Third Front (China)|Third Front]] campaign to develop basic industry and heavy industry in China's hinterlands in case of invasion by the Soviet Union or the United States, 354,900 Shanghainese were sent to work on Third Front projects.<ref name="Xu-2022">{{Cite book |last1=Xu |first1=Youwei |title=Everyday Lives in China's Cold War Military Industrial Complex: Voices from the Shanghai Small Third Front, 1964–1988 |last2=Wang |first2=Y. Yvon |publisher=[[Palgrave MacMillan]] |year=2022 |isbn=9783030996871}}</ref>{{Rp|page=xvi}} The centrepiece of Shanghai's Small Third Front project was the "rear base" in Anhui rear base which served as "a multi-function manufacturing base for anti-aircraft and anti-tank weaponry.<ref name="Xu-2022" />{{Rp|page=xvi}}

Since 1949, Shanghai has been a comparatively heavy contributor of tax revenue to the central government; in 1983, the city's contribution in tax revenue was greater than the investment received in the past 33 years combined.<ref>{{cite book |last=McGregor |first=Richard |date=31 July 2012 |title=The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers |publisher=Harper Perennial; Reprint |isbn=9780061708763 |author-link=Richard McGregor}}</ref> Its importance to the fiscal well-being of the central government also denied it from [[Chinese economic reform|economic liberalizations]] begun in 1978.

In 1990, [[Deng Xiaoping]] permitted Shanghai to initiate economic reforms, which reintroduced foreign capital to the city and developed the Pudong district, resulting in the birth of [[Lujiazui]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2018-09/17/c_1123438650.htm|script-title=zh:浦东，改革开放尽显"上海风度"|work=[[Xinhua News]]|date=17 September 2018|access-date=29 September 2019|language=zh-cn|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929114521/http://www.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2018-09/17/c_1123438650.htm|archive-date=29 September 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> That year, the China's central government designated Shanghai as the "Dragon Head" of [[Chinese economic reform|economic reform]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hou |first=Li |title=Building for Oil: Daqing and the Formation of the Chinese Socialist State |date=2021 |publisher=[[Harvard University Asia Center]] |isbn=978-0-674-26022-1 |edition= |series=[[Harvard-Yenching Institute]] monograph series |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=xviii}}</ref> As of 2020, Shanghai is classified as an Alpha+ city by the [[Globalization and World Cities Research Network]], making it one of the world's Top 10 major cities.<ref>{{Cite web|title=GaWC – The World According to GaWC 2020|url=https://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/world2020t.html|access-date=27 September 2020|website=www.lboro.ac.uk|archive-date=24 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824031341/https://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/world2020t.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In early 2022, Shanghai experienced a large outbreak of [[COVID-19]] cases. After localized lockdowns failed to stem the rise in cases, the [[2022 Shanghai COVID-19 outbreak|Chinese government locked down]] the entire city on 5 April. This resulted in widespread food shortages across the city emerged as food-supply chains were severely disrupted by the government's lockdown measures, which were not lifted until 1 June.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/shanghai-in-lockdown-struggles-to-feed-itself-11649353336|title=Shanghai, in Lockdown, Struggles to Feed Itself|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=7 April 2022|access-date=3 September 2022|archive-date=12 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112120154/https://www.wsj.com/articles/shanghai-in-lockdown-struggles-to-feed-itself-11649353336|url-status=live}}</ref>