The committee was eventually disbanded during reforms in December 1979, when the Shanghai Municipal People's Government was reintroduced.

During the Cultural Revolution, influenced by Maoist leaders of the Cultural Revolution Group and the publication of the Sixteen Articles, rebel factions in Shanghai overthrew the Shanghai Municipal Committee of Chen Pixian and Cao Diqiu in January 1967.

[1] On 5 February, rebel factions under the leadership of Zhang Chunqiao created a new transitional revolutionary committee under the Shanghai People's Commune.

It was modeled after the Paris Commune, and was to adopt direct democracy as its method of electing its leadership.

Several departments originally composed within the Shanghai Municipal People's Government were suspended due to political changes in the Cultural Revolution, and were not resumed until the abolition of the authority in December 1979.