In 2021, 21% of globally estimated road traffic deaths occurred in China. The current study has three aims:​ first, to create a pre-crash time-series data (PCTSD) that can be used for assessing safety systems for Chinaspecific crash scenarios;​ second, to understand the national representativeness of PCTSD;​ and third, to list recommendations to improve future PCTSD creation. The information (such as participant details, vehicle dynamics, environment details) from the Shanghai United Road Traffic Safety Scientific Research Centre (SHUFO) data during 2011–2021 was processed and converted to a PCTSD format. Of the 1,231 cases in SHUFO, 529 were converted. Car-to-powered two-wheeler and car-to-car are the top collision types, followed by single car crashes. Compared with national data, crashes in SHUFO and PCTSD at intersections are over-represented, and those occurring in the evening are under-represented. Recommendations include loading participants during reconstruction as per the participant’s number in the dataset, accurate positioning of multibody while switching it from rigid body, extending the vehicle path backward during reconstruction, and deriving weight factors for each case. PCTSD data can be used to evaluate active safety systems, predict future crashes, and provide inputs to the active human body model simulations for China.