It was renamed Zhongshan (then usually romanized "Chungshan") in April 1925, in honor of the founder of the Republic of China, Sun Yat Sen, a Xiangshan native.

The county covered the modern-day Zhuhai City, Zhongshan City and a part of Nansha District of Guangzhou City in the Guangdong Province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), and the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, formerly known as Portuguese Macau until 1999.

This was permitted by the Ming dynasty, but despite the Portuguese presence, Macau was still under the jurisdiction of Xiangshan.

Originally a county-level city, Zhongshan was elevated to prefecture level in January 1988.

A 6.81-square kilometer special economic zone was established within Zhuhai City in August 1980.