Abstract: Groundwater is the major water source of Zibo city and provides approximately 70％ of total water supplies in this city．Therefore, the rational utilization and proper exploitation of groundwater resources is of essential importance for the sustainable development of the city. The research area, which covers 5 districts and 1 county, is located in the Zibo syncline basin and be longs to a single hydrogeological unit. In this research, the 6 administrative zones above-mentioned is simulated as a unity. Geological and hydrogeological conditions are quite complex in this area since major aquifers are of fracture-karst orientation with different media properties. Furthermore, many large-scale structural movements occurred in geological history also greatly influenced the characteristics of groundwater flow. In previous studies, water-balance method was often employed under such conditions. However, because some important factors can not be determined accurately, the results are not very convincible. Finite Element Method (FEM) is thus employed in this paper to resolve the contradiction between large computational effort and high precision demanding in groundwater resources evaluation of Zibo City. First, a simplified conceptual model maintaining key features of the research area is set up through careful study of numerous geological and hydrogeological data and relevant literatures. Then, with the well statistics of historical pumping and long-term groundwater level observations, a mathematical model based on the conceptual model is constructed and calibrated. In the meanwhile relevant model parameters are also obtained by solving the inverse problem through trial-and-error approach. After that, rectification procedures began with additional observational data. The results show that computations and observations match very well at most locations and that the numerical mod el can be used to forecast groundwater flow field in the future. The next step is to predict water head in the future using given pumping plans and other conditions, such as mod el boundary definition, precipitation series, etc. Finally, suggestions on rational development and utilization of groundwater resources in Zibo City are discussed based upon analysis of the model output.