Xuzhou enjoys a long history and its ancestors have been living and working on this piece of land for over 6000 thousands. At the end of primitive society, Emperor Yao assigned Peng Zu to the land of the present downtown, as the Kingdom of Dapengshi for which Xuzhou calls itself Pengcheng. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Pengcheng belonged to the Kingdom of Song and then to the Kingdom of Chu until Qin Dynasty unified the whole nation and set Pengcheng County. 

During Chu – Han, the Great Conqueror of Western Chu made Pengcheng its capital city. 

Western Han set Pengcheng Prefecture and Eastern Han set the Kingdom of Pengchen, making it the capital. During Eastern Han, it was a name of state, with five prefectures and kingdoms and 62 counties. The capital city Tanxian County is the present Tancheng County in Shandong. At the end of Han Dynasty, the administration was moved to Xiapi, which is located at the east of the present Pixian County in Jiangsu. 

During the Three Kingdoms Period, Cao Wei moved its administration to Pengcheng, i.e. Xuzhou Jiangsu. The boundary ranged from the northern part of Jiangsu province north of Yangtze River to southern part of Shandong according to the present administrative division. During this period, Cao Cao moved the Prefectural Department of Xuzhou to Pengcheng and from that time Pengcheng has been called Xuzhou. 

During Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties, the kingdom of Pengcheng or Xuzhou was formed and the capital or administration was set in Pengcheng mostly. 

During Sui Dynasty, Xuzhou was set and then it was changed into Pengcheng Prefecture to govern Pengcheng. 

In the beginning of Tang Dynasty, the prefecture name of Pengcheng or Xuzhou changed several times and in its middle and latter period, Xuzhou became the resident of Jiedushi. During the Five Dynasties, all the dynasties set Xuzhou which governed Pengcheng and 7 counties. 

Song and Yuan Dynasties both set Xuzhou and its subjection and subordinates changed a lot. 

In the beginning of Ming Dynasty, Xuzhou was under the administration of the capital directly and then it belonged to Nanjing. 

In the beginning of Qing Dynasty, Xuzhou was a Zhili State under Jiangnan Province and Jiangsu Province. At the end of Yongzheng’s reign, he elevated it to Xuzhou Prefecture, governing one state and seven counties. 

In the beginning of the Republic of China, prefecture was abolished and Xuzhou Prefecture belonged to Guotongshan County. After that, Xuhaidao was set with its administration set in Tongshan (Xuzhou).

During Japanese puppet regime, it was the capital city of puppet Huaihai Province. 

After the victory of Anti-Japanese War, the Nationalist Government still set Xuzhou City, belonging to Jiangsu. In 1949, as Jiangsu was not set free completely, Xuzhou was under the governance of Shandong temporarily. 

In 1949, Xuzhou was a direct subordinate to Shandong Province and Xinhailian City was under Central-South Shandong Administration Office in Shandong Province. In Nov. 1952, the party central committee decided to set Jiangsu Province in Jan. 1953 and change Xuzhou into a special administrative region under Jiangsu Province with Xinhailian City a subordinate to Xuzhou. A Commissioner’s Office was set in Xuzhou City. In 1958, the two cities of Xuzhou and Xinhailian which had been under the administration of the province were allocated to the administration of the administrative supervisory commissioner of Xuzhou. Up to then, the special administrative region of Xuzhou governed two cities and eight counties. In 1960, Tongshan County was allocated to the administration of Xuzhou. In 1961, Xinhailian City was changed into Lianyungang City. In 1962, the two cities of Xuzhou and Lianyungang were changed into provincially administered municipality. Tongshan County which was under the administration of Xuzhou City was allocated to the special administrative region. In 1970, the special administrative region of Xuzhou was changed into Xuzhou Region, with its commissioner’s office set in Xuzhou City. It had eight subordinate counties of Fengxain, Peixian, Ganyu, Donghai, Xinyi, Pixian, Suining and Tongshan. 

At present, Xuzhou administers two cities (Xinyi and Pizhou), three counties (Fengxian, Peixian and Suining County) and five districts (Yunlong, Gulou, Quanshan, Tongshan and Jiawang).