Joseph Shen Bin was born into a Catholic family[1] on 23 February 1970 in Qidong, in the province of Jiangsu.

[1] In September 2017, he participated in a meeting organized by the Community of Sant'Egidio in the German dioceses of Münster and Osnabrück.

[1] On that occasional he told an interviewer about the relationship between the Church and the government of China:[1] We have understood long time ago that in China, to carry on, it is convenient not to oppose the government, and sometimes we have to (it is convenient to) distinguish between ecclesial matters, matters of faith on one side, and economic and administrative issues, which in itself do not affect the deposition of faith, on another side....

And we must not give too much importance to the bad accusations against us coming from outside.On 4 April 2023, Shen was installed as the Bishop of Shanghai in the Cathedral of St. Ignatius[4] without the approval of the Holy See.

[6] He said Francis hoped the following: "Remedy the canonical irregularity created in Shanghai, in view of the greater good of the diocese and the fruitful exercise of the bishop’s pastoral ministry".