In 1932, the
Yunnan government set up the Ruili Administrative Bureau (), the government office was in the town. Two years later, Nongdao was designated as a town. At the end of 1948, the Ruili Incident broke out, the
Jingpo people burned down the government office. After the establishment of the Communist State in 1949, it came under the jurisdiction of the 3rd District of Ruili County. During the
Cultural Revolution, it was renamed "Weidong People's Commune" () and then "Nongdao People's Commune" (). Nongdao became a district in 1984 and a township in 1986. In February 1993, the Nongdao Economic Development Zone was founded in the town. In May 2000, it was upgraded to a town. In 2005, the economic development zone merged into the town. In 2013, Ruili government moved the
Ruili Border Economic Cooperation Zone to Nongdao. ==Geography==