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Anshan old city gate
The area of Anshan has been inhabited since prehistoric times. It has been a site of iron mining and metallurgy for over 2,000 years.: 289  The area remained of little significance, a small city in Liaodong province, overshadowed by neighbouring Liaoyang city, until the mid-20th Century.
In 1587, Anshan was fortified by the Ming Dynasty to combat the growing power of the Manchu. The city was burnt down during the Boxer Rebellion, and was destroyed again in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). As a result of this war, Japan had gained influence in Liaoning and was engaged in industrialising the region. Anshan lay beside the new South Manchuria Railway line that ran from the port of Dalian to the major city of Shenyang.
As part of the economic privileges that Japan forced China to cede in 1915, Japan obtained concessions in Anshan.: 29 
From 1918 to 1945, Anshan was under Japanese colonial control and was a centre for modern iron and steel production.: 289  After the Mukden Incident in 1931, Japan occupied the northeast of China. The mills were turned into a Japanese-owned monopoly. In 1933, the site was expanded to include steel production and the company was renamed Showa Steel Works. Anshan became part of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. In 1937, Puyi officially designated Anshan as a city.: 56  During Japanese colonial control, Anshan was ethnically separated, with Japanese living east of its railway line and Chinese living west of it.: 56–57  Schools in the city were also segregated.: 57 
Additional industries developed around the iron and steel mills. Anshan grew significantly in size around this new industrial site, becoming one of, if not the largest producers of iron and steel in Asia. It was therefore of strategic importance in the Pacific War, and was subject to several attacks by B-29 Superfortress strategic bombers of the USAAF. The Japanese Army detached the 1st Chutai (unit) of the 104th Sentai (squadron) of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, to Anshan, with other air squadrons for industrial defence purposes. Although this unit was equipped with modern Nakajima Ki-84 Ia (Manshu Type) Hayate "Frank" fighters, manufactured by Manshūkoku Hikōki Seizo KK, the plant suffered heavy damage from the air raids, losing up to 30% of its capacity.
After the war in Europe ended, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as the Red Army simultaneously launched Operation August Storm. Soviet forces advanced rapidly and soon captured much of Manchuria from the Japanese. In late 1945, the Soviet Red Army occupied a large amount of Liaoning and took major portions of the area's manufacturing and mining equipment to the Soviet Union.: 289 
With the defeat of Japan in 1945, Anshan was returned to China along with the rest of the Chinese Manchuria. Civil war continued between the Nationalists and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Nationalist Government attempted to revive manufacturing in the area during their period of control from 1946 to 1948.: 289–290  The Nationalists withdrew from Anshan in February 1948.: 91 
The CCP entered the city on 28 February.: 97  Upon beginning governing in Anshan, CCP authorities sought to implement New Democracy by nationalizing some private enterprises with compensation and providing financial support to other private business.: 121  A significant amount of Japanese remained in Anshan, and they were governed indirectly by the CCP through an intermediary group of Japanese Communist cadre, which included members of the Japanese Communist Party who had been in the region before 1945, former Japanese soldiers who had been reeducated in Yan'an, and Japanese Communists recruited and trained by the CCP after 1945.: 122 
The northeast of China was marked out to become a major industrial centre for the new People's Republic of China. Anshan became a key part of China's approach to "socialist industrialization" which, modeled after the Soviet approach, focused on the development of heavy industry state-owned enterprises.: 1  Its mining and manufacturing industries had to be rebuilt almost from scratch, however.: 289–290  During this period, Anshan was given the same status as provinces, although it was reversed after the period ended. In December 1948, the Anshan Iron and Steel Company—also known as Angang—was founded. It was a centre of industrialization as part of China's First Five-Year Plan.: 290  Production in the newly repaired steel plant resumed on July 9, 1949. The plant was the largest steel producer in China.: 1  Anshan developed the nickname, "Steel Metropolis".: 1  Other industries set up alongside the steel plant including mining for coal, iron and other minerals.
Anshan became a formal administrative region under the Northeastern People's Government (later renamed as the Northeastern Administration Commission) in November 1949.
Anshan is reported to have served as a base for Soviet MIG fighter aircraft and pilots during the Korean War (1950–1953) in air combat operations against US/UN forces.
In 1954, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited Anshan.: 1 
On 12 March 1953, the city became a municipality under the Central Government's direct administration. Haicheng County and Xiuyan County were subordinated to Liaodong Province. Tai'an County was subordinated to Liaoxi Province. On 22 August 1954, the central government decided that Anshan should be administered by Liaoning Province.
During the Cultural Revolution, on 17 August 1967, the CCP's central authorities issued the Resolution on the Anshan Question which criticized the CCP Angang Committee and the CCP Anshan City Committee members as capitalist roaders.: 253  Three days later, the Anshan City Military Control Committee was established by the People's Liberation Army with Zhang Feng and Chen Shaokun as the Committee directors.: 253  The Committee implemented military control over both Angang and Anshan.: 253  On 20 March 1968, the city's Revolutionary Committee was created.: 253 
The State Council confirmed that Anshan should be in charge of Xiuyan County and Haicheng City in 1985.
The furnaces of the steel plant were changed in the 1980s to designs which blow oxygen in from the front. This increased the production and also reduced pollution. In the 1990s, they were additionally altered to blow oxygen in from the top as well. This further increases production and reduces pollution. In December 2000, all three production lines of Anshan Iron and Steel Company switched from mould-casting to continuous casting. This new technology has significantly reduced the dust and other pollution in the city. The new plant equipment is also much less labour-intensive. This has meant a reduction in the workforce has caused an unemployment problem in the city. A new drive to market Anshan as a tourist destination is hoped to help bolster the city's economy.
