There has been a generally accepted assumption amongst Western observers of China that there was a ‘Shanghai Group’ active in Chinese politics between 1969 and 1976. In addition, it has been a common assumption that this group and Shanghai itself were the focus of radicalism during this period. Thus Shanghai's three leading cadres – Chang Ch'un-ch'iao, Yao Wen-yuan and Wang Hung-wen –were frequently identified, together with Chiang Ch'ing, as the ‘Shanghai Radicals’ even before their denunciation as the Gang of Four in October 1976.

There does certainly seem to be ample evidence of a Shanghai Connection at the higher levels of decision-making during the first half of the 1970s. The erstwhile ‘Shanghai Radicals’ were all prominent national-level cadres and Politburo members, with Wang Hung-wen the third-highest-ranking cadre after Mao and Chou from 1973 to 1976. Moreover (particularly after Lin Piao's death) a high proportion of national campaigns and models emanated from Shanghai. For example, in education the movement to train worker–peasant teachers was based around the Shanghai Machine Tools Plant. The campaign to establish an urban militia was modelled on the ‘Shanghai Experience’ first popularized in the Shanghai No. 17 Cotton Textile Mill under Wang Hung-wen's leadership. Shanghai units took the lead in criticizing Confucius after 1969; and Futan University's Study and Criticism was the first local theoretical journal to appear after the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (GPCR).

The impression of a specifically Shanghai influence is reinforced by the accusations levelled at the Gang of Four since their fall.