Zibo, located in central Shandong, covers a land area of 5,965 square kilometers with a population of 4.708 million. As a unique city composed of several urban areas, it has five districts, three counties, Zibo High-tech Industrial Development Zone, Zibo Economic Development Zone, and Wenchang Lake Provincial-level Tourism Resort. In 1992, it was designated as a large city in China.

Zibo was the capital of the Qi State and the birthplace of the Qi Culture. With a history of more than 3,000 years, Zibo is rated as National City of Civility, National Famous Historical and Cultural City, and Outstanding Tourism City in China. It has been reputed as the origin of The Strange Tales of Liao Zhai and a well-known ceramic city. In 2004, it was recognized as the birthplace of world football by FIFA. Zibo is also one of the five porcelain capitals in China as Zibo ceramics is known as the contemporary kiln champion in China.

Zibo is an important industrial hub in China and the province with a modern industrial history of more than 110 years. It has developed a modern industrial system led by petrochemical industry, metallurgy, new materials, automobiles and electromechanical equipment, medicine, and textiles. In 2018, the city's GDP reached 506.84 billion RMB yuan.

The city has established 13 pairs of sister-city relations and 18 pairs of friendly cooperative relations with cities of other countries, and built long-term and stable economic and trade cooperation relations with more than 160 countries and regions.