Siping's history can be stretched to 3000 years ago during Shang Dynasty. The Kingdom of Yan Ruins indicate that the Han Chinese People started moving into Northeast region of China during the Spring and Autumn Period. A new town was built after 1921, going by the name Ssupingkai. After 1932, under the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, some agriculture-based industry including brewing, oil pressing and flour milling grew up. In the latter part of World War II, the Japanese completed a project in the construction of a refinery for the production of synthetic petroleum from coal. Siping was the site of several major battles during the Chinese Civil War between the Chinese Communist and Nationalist forces from 1945 to 1949. After the war, Siping was virtually destroyed.