Abstract: Coalbed methane(CBM) development in Shizhuang block of Qinshui basin is in the early stage, so detailed study on coal seams and prediction of favorable development areas should be very important for further well placement. Based on the analysis of No.3 coal seam features in Shizhang block, a new set of quantitative characterization methods for CBM reservoirs is presented, that is to select gas content, thickness, permeability and adsorption time as characterization parameters, use coal reservoir gas potential, geological gas production potential and potential gas production efficiency index to reflect resource abundance, gas production potential and potential gas production efficiency, respectively, and predict favorable areas for CBM development based on the potential gas production efficiency index. The study shows that No.3 coal seam in Shizhuang block has high resource abundance and great development potential. The potential gas production efficiency indexes are relatively high in the east and middle-south parts of the block, which should be the favorable areas for CBM development. The prediction results well match with the field pumping and producing efficiency, indicating that the method using potential gas production efficiency index to predict favorable CBM areas are reliable and feasible, which has great significance for favorable CBM area optimization.