Laiwu is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong Province, People's Republic of China. The smallest prefecture-level city in the province, it borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east and Tai'an to the southwest. Its population was 1,298,529 at the 2010 census whom 989,535 lived in the built-up area made up of Laicheng district, Gangcheng district not being conurbated yet.