Originally only titled as a 'Consul', on 12 November 1877 the serving German Consul in Shanghai, Carl Friedrich Conrad Lueder, was upgraded to the status of Consul-General.

This consulate was closed following the outbreak of the Second Sino Japanese War as Nazi Germany was an ally of Japan, and withdrew recognition of the Nationalist Government.

In 1941 Germany appointed a new Consul-General in Shanghai dealing with relations with the Japanese puppet Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, which operated until the end of World War II.

The current Consulate-General to the People's Republic of China in Shanghai has been operating since 15 October 1982 and is located in the former French Concession at no.

181 Yongfu lu (formerly known as "Rue du Pere Huc"), with the Consul-General's residence in the same street at no.