Zaozhuang, located in the southernmost of Shandong, has five districts and one county-level city under its jurisdiction. It covers 4,564 square kilometers with a population of 4.2 million.

As a well-known historical city, Zaozhuang is the birthplace of many prominent figures in ancient times including Mozi, Master of Science, Lu Ban, Master of Carpentry, and Xizhong, Inventor of Chariot. As a green city, it is rated as National Forest City, National Garden City, and National Sanitary City.

Zaozhuang, as a transportation hub connecting South China and Shandong, is linked with Beijing-Shanghai Railway, Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway, Beijing-Taipei Expressway, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. The city is the birthplace of Zhongxing Coal, China's first share-holding company, and China's earliest industrial stocks. It is designated by the central government as a pilot city of transformation of resources-based cities, a pilot area of rural reform, a demonstration area of modern agriculture, and a demonstration area of sustainable agricultural development. The city has established 4 sister-city relations and 9 friendly cooperative relations with cities of other countries, and built all-round and multi-tiered channels and platforms for international exchanges and cooperation.

Zaozhuang has fostered six advantageous industries such as high-end equipment, high-end chemical sector, big data, lithium battery, optical fiber, medicine and health. In 2018, its GDP reached 240.24 billion RMB yuan.