Shanghai, China's largest city, located at the Huang Pu River near the point where this merges into the Yangtze River and the East China Sea, is also China's largest industrial center and a major commercial city and trading port.
MAN realized this in the early 90'ties, and also that along with the rapid development of the economy in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta, this area would become the hub of engine building-, shipbuilding- and ship repair industries.

Therefore, in 1993 the MAN Diesel Shanghai Representative Office was established in order to cooperate with this thriving industry as well as to support its growing needs. Key areas were Engine Sales Promotion, Production Support to the licensee's factories and Order Processing and Commissioning of MAN engine and propulsion packages.

Along with an increase of the ship repair industry in China, soon spare parts sale and service were introduced, followed by the official opening of the Service Center, MAN Diesel Technical Services (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in 1998, providing technical service to MAN products all over China.

In 2001 the MAN Turbocharger Plant was founded to complement the demands from the Chinese engine builders.

In 2005, most of the Representative Office and the Service Center activities were merged into a Regional Center, having a new company name:
MAN Diesel Shanghai Co., Ltd.

All the MAN Shanghai offices are located in Pudong, the eastern part of Shanghai, near to one of the major Chinese engine builders Hudong Heavy Machinery Co. Ltd., and some of the important shipbuilders as Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding. Co., Waigaoqiao Shipyard and the future shipbuilding base on Shanghai's Changxing Island, which by then is expected to be the largest in the world.