to Manchukuo. Japan still leased it from Manchukuo. In 1937, the current area of Dalian was enlarged and modernized by the Japanese as two cities: the northern Dairen (Dalian) and the southern Ryojun (Port Arthur or Lüshun).
Post-World War II
With the unconditional surrender of Japan in August 1945, Dairen passed to the Soviets, who had liberated the city in advance of the end of hostilities and governed the city until 1950. During this period the Soviets and Chinese Communists cooperated in the further development of the city, its industrial infrastructure, and especially the port, which remained as the freeport rented by the Soviet government. The city had been relatively undamaged during the war.
In 1950, the USSR presented the city to the Chinese Communist government without any compensation and, on 1 December 1950, the city was amalgamated with Lüshun (Port Arthur) as Lüda in 1950 although the first Chinese Communist mayor of the new Lüda Administrative Office had been appointed in 1945. From 12 March 1953 to 1 August 1954 it was a direct-controlled municipality and not part of Liaoning. Soviet troops left the city in 1955.After the departure of the Soviets, the PRC converted Lüda into a major shipbuilding center and, in 1981, the name Dalian was given to the city with Lüshun becoming a constituent district.
In 1984, the Chinese Government designated the city a Special Economic Zone. At the time, Dalian was China's largest foreign trade port.
Post 1990
The city was upgraded from a prefecture-level city to a sub-provincial city in May 1994, with no change in its administrative subdivisions. In the 1990s the city benefited from the attention of Bo Xilai (later Communist Party head of Chongqing) who was both mayor of the city and provincial party official, who, among other things, banned motorcycles and planted large, lush parks in the city's many traffic circles. He also preserved
