Jinzhong has a long history. According to archaeological discoveries, there were already human activities in the Late Paleolithic Age, about 30,000 years ago. In the late Shang Dynasty, cities appeared. During the Spring and Autumn Period, administrative structures at the county level began to be established. There were Qi (belonging to today's Qi County), Wu (belonging to today's Jiexiu), Tushui (belonging to today's Yuci), and Ma Shou (belonging to today's Shouyang) 4 within the territory. The county was under the leadership of the Jin State; in the east was the Fei State (belonging to present-day Xiyang) founded by the Baidi people. During the Warring States Period, the entire territory was occupied by the three kingdoms of Han, Zhao and Wei. After the Qin Dynasty unified the country, a system of prefectures and counties was implemented, and the territory was under the jurisdiction of Taiyuan County and Shangdang County. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Leping County was established in what is now Xiyang, and the county level above the county level began to be established. The entire territory belonged to Taiyuan, Shangdang and Leping counties. During the Three Kingdoms period, it was under the jurisdiction of Wei Bingzhou and was led by the four counties of Taiyuan, Shangdang, Xihe and Leping. After the Northern Wei unified the north, it was transferred to Bingzhou Taiyuan County, Xiang County (first governed the Shecheng Town of today's Yushe County, and later moved to Guxian Town of today's Wuxiang County), Leping County, Shangdang County and Fenzhou Xihe County (governing today's Ji County ). After that, it belonged to the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi successively. In the early Sui Dynasty, counties were abolished and prefectures were established, and they were replaced by five prefectures: Bing, Jie, Han, Liao (established in the 16th year of Kaihuang's reign, governing present and past Yang), and Lu. Later, the state was abolished and restored to counties, which belonged to Taiyuan and Xihe (reformed from Jiezhou) counties. Soon, it was changed to Taiyuan, Jiexiu and Huoshan counties. The establishment of the Tang Dynasty changed frequently, and the territory was successively controlled by Bing, Jie, Lu, Han, Tai, Liao, Yu, Shou, Ji, Fen, Yi and other prefectures and Taiyuan Prefecture. By 883 (the third year of Zhonghe), it was finally transformed into Taiyuan Prefecture and Commander of Fen and Liao states. Among them, Yuci, Taigu, Qixian and Shouyang belong to Taiyuan Prefecture, Pingyao, Jiexiu and Lingshi mostly belong to Fenzhou Prefecture, and Leping, Heshun and Yushe belong to Liaozhou Prefecture. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the territory was under the jurisdiction of Taiyuan Prefecture, Fenzhou, Liaozhou and Pingding Army on Hedong Road. During the confrontation between the north and the south during the Song and Jin Dynasties, it belonged to the Jin Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, it belonged to Jining Road and Jinning Road. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it belonged to the three prefectures of Taiyuan, Fenzhou and Pingyang and the three Zhili prefectures of Liao, Pingding and Huozhou.
In the early days of the Republic of China, the entire territory belonged to Jining Road and Hedong Road. In 1927 (the 16th year of the Republic of China), the Taoist system was abolished and placed directly under the Shanxi Provincial Governor's Office (later changed to the Shanxi Provincial Government and Shanxi Appeasement Office). After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937, anti-Japanese democratic governments were established in various counties in central Shanxi, which were under the jurisdiction of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan, and Shanxi-Sui Border Region governments. In July 1948, the entire territory of Jinzhong was liberated, and the counties were temporarily under the jurisdiction of Taihang District 1, Taiyue District 1, and Jinzhong (renamed Taiyuan) District 1 and 3 of North China District.
In September 1949, the Shanxi Provincial People's Government established the Yuci District Administrative Supervision Commissioner's Office as an agency dispatched by the provincial government. From then on, Jinzhong began to become a unified administrative region, called Yuci Prefecture. In August 1950, it was renamed the Yuci District Commissioner's Office of the Shanxi Provincial People's Government. In February 1955, the name was changed to Yuci Commissioner's Office of Shanxi Province. In November 1958, it was renamed Jinzhong Commissioner's Office, commonly known as Jinzhong District. In September 1968, the Shanxi Revolutionary Committee was established. In May 1978, the Jinzhong District Administrative Office was reestablished and remains an agency dispatched by the Shanxi Provincial People's Government.
On September 24, 1999, with the approval of the State Council, the Jinzhong region was abolished, Jinzhong City (prefecture-level city) was established, and the affiliated Yuci City was changed to Yuci District. In October 2000, the Jinzhong Municipal People's Government was formally established.