 It was held annually in Asia.The tournament was first created in 1996 in Shanghai, People's Republic of China, on indoor carpet courts and as part of the ATP World Series.The second new tournament started by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in Asia in three years, after the Beijing Open, created in 1993, the Shanghai event ran as a men's only tournament during four years, seeing the likes of Michael Chang, Goran Ivanišević, Marcelo Ríos and Magnus Norman reaching the finals.