Shanghai Overview

Shanghai is situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta, is China's largest city. The city is one of the most important cultural, commercial, financial, industrial and communications centers of China. Administratively, Shanghai is one of four municipalities of the People's Republic of China that have provincial-level status. Shanghai is also home to the world's busiest port, followed by Singapore and Rotterdam.

Originally a sleepy fishing town, Shanghai became China's most important city by the start of the 20th century and was the center of popular culture, vice, intellectual discourse and political intrigue in Republican China. After the Communist takeover in 1949, Shanghai languished under heavy central government taxation and much of its bourgeois elements were purged. Since the government authorized the market-economic redevelopment of Shanghai in 1992, Shanghai quickly surpassed early-starters Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and has since led China's economic growth. One of the challenges for Shanghai in the early 21st century is to regain its former status as a world-class city and also make city life more comfortable for all of its residents, including migrant workers from poorer provinces.