Ma'anshan, city in east central China, in southeastern Anhui province. It is located on the south shore of the Yangtze River and is connected by railroad with Nanjing to the northeast and Wuhu to the south.
The region around Ma'anshan has been a mining center for hundreds of years, but the city itself is new. The Japanese occupied the area in 1938 and built a steelworks and an iron-smelting plant at Ma'anshan. Most of the production from the mines, however, was exported to Japan. At the end of World War II in 1945, the processing plants were destroyed and the mines were abandoned. After 1949, when the region was again under Chinese control, the iron-smelting plant was rebuilt and began production in 1953. Increased production supplied the steel industry in Shanghai. Later, an integrated iron and steel complex was built at Ma'anshan, but much of the pig iron is still exported to Shanghai. Population (1991) 305,421.
