Qianjiang became a county in 965 during the Song dynasty. It was the early center of the Chu State. Qianjiang was occupied by the Japanese during the Sino-Japan War. The Japanese primarily used prominent local Chinese to run the "puppet" government, notably many members of the Zhang family. The communists from 1949 to early 1980s constructed a pharmaceutical plant, a textile factory, a book-printing factory, a large oil-and-gas drilling field, and other industrial installations in the Qianjiang area. As the national economic reform took force beginning in the late 1970s many of these state-run businesses went under. Qianjiang was rarely ranked no. 1 in any way. However, during the period of 1959 and 1962, the largest "Cadre Camp" in China, or in the world as people at that time liked to call it, was established in Qianjiang. It was a result of the potential Sino-Russian War.