One of China's most ancient cities, dating back more than six thousand years, Ningbo has always served as one of China's largest and most important trading ports. This legacy would carry into the modern day, where the city would serve as the birthplace of the Ningbo Merchants Group, which would become one of the most significant commercial grassroots movements of the Qing Dynasty, and contribute greatly to the rise and success of Shanghai.

Japan's barbaric war of aggression against China would not leave Ningbo unscathed. The city would suffer much from the Rising Sun, and as the birthplace of General Chiang Kai-shek, the government of collaborators who rule on Japan's behalf consciously neglects the old city. However, this policy has been an accidental benefit to Ningbo; as the city recovers from the 30s and 40s, it has become a favored commercial hub for business and merchants tired of political interference. Ningbo may carry little political water, but its civilian economy has made it China's second busiest trade port, surpassed only by Shanghai.