[citation needed] The origins of the Jiangnan Shipyard lie in the Self-Strengthening Movement of the late 19th century in China, during the Qing Dynasty.

The Self-Strengthening Movement (Chinese: 洋務運動/自強運動/同治維新), c. 1861 – 1895, was a period of institutional reforms initiated in China during the late Qing dynasty following a series of military defeats and concessions to foreign powers.

One of the projects in this campaign of modernisation was the establishment of defence industries, including the Kiangnan Arsenal in Shanghai in 1865 (the fourth year of the Tongzhi era).

The shipyard, plant and machinery were initially leased from Thomas Hunt and Company, an American firm within the concessions of Shanghai.

Due to the influx of workers and the reluctance of the concession authorities to allow arms to be manufactured within their territory, the Chinese authorities purchased the plant and equipment and combined these with the existing assets of the old Suzhou and Anqing arsenals as well as new equipment purchased by Yung Wing in the United States to form the new Kiangnan Arsenal in 1865.

Most of the senior technical staff were Westerners, such as the first chief engineer, American T. F. Falls, and prolific translator John Fryer.

Beginning in 1964, the Communist government moved a number of industrial and technological institutions of strategic importance inland, in preparation for a potential war with either the United States or the Soviet Union.

The shipyard recently delivered 23,000 TEU LNG-fueled containership the CMA CGM Champs Elysées,[4] but there was a delay of at least 10 months.