Zibo is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, China. It borders the provincial capital Jinan to the west, Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Binzhou to the north.
Zibo spans 5,938 square kilometres. As of the 2010 cenus, Zibo's population was 4.53 million, of which 4.41 million lived in the metro area comprising five urban districts—Zhangdian, Zichuan, Boshan, Zhoucun and Linzi–and parts of neighboring counties Huantai, Gaoqing, and Yiyuan.
The Zibo area was the centre of the ancient State of Qi, whose capital Linzi was the most populous city in China at its peak. Pu Songling, a well-known writer of the Qing Dynasty, is one of the most famous people from Zibo. As the birthplace of Qi culture, Zibo is a notable tourist city.
Manufacturing holds an important place of the city's economy, particularly ceramics manufacturing. Other key industries include the petrochemical industry, pharmaceuticals, metallurgy, construction materials, machinery and textiles. New industries and high-technology industries, such new materials, fine chemicals, electronics, IT, and biopharmaceutics are also developing rapidly.