The tournament was originally scheduled to take place at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center in Shenzhen, China as a part of the WTA Tour's ten-year deal with Shenzhen, beginning in 2019. However, on December 2, 2021, WTA chairman Steve Simon announced that all tournaments scheduled to be held in both China and Hong Kong would be suspended beginning in 2022, due to concerns regarding the security and well-being of tennis player Peng Shuai after her allegations of sexual assault against Zhang Gaoli, a high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party, and the travel restrictions owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China.
