Cenozoic (Miocene to Pleistocene) basaltic rocks in Jiangsu province of eastern China include olivine tholeiite and alkali basalt. We present major, trace element and Sr-Nd isotopic data as well as Ar-Ar dating of these basalts to discuss the petrogenesis of the basalts and identify the geological processes beneath the study area. On the basis of chemical compisitions and Ar-Ar dating of Cenonoic basaltic rocks from Jiangsu province, we suggest that these basalts may belong to the same magmatic system. The alkali basalts found in Jiangsu province have higher ΣFeO, MgO, CaO, Na2O, TiO2 and P2O5 and incompatible elements, but lower Al2O3 and compatible elements contents than olivine tholeiite which may be caused by fractional crystallization of olivine, pyroxene and minor plagioclase. In Jiangsu basaltic rocks the incompatible elements increase with decreasing MgO/ΣFeO ratios. The primitive mantle-normalized incompatible elements and chondrite-normalized REE patterns of basaltic rocks found in Jiangsu province are similar to those of OIB. Partial loss of the mantle lithosphere accompanied by rising of asthenospheric mantle may accelerate the generation of the basaltic magma. The 143Nd/144Nd vs. 87Sr/86Sr plot indicates a mixing of a depleted asthenospheric mantle source and an EM1 component in the study area. According to Shaw’s equation, the basalts from Jiangsu province may be formed by 1%–5% partial melting of a depleted asthenospheric mantle source. On the basis of Ar-Ar ages of this study and the fractional crystallization model proposed by Brooks and Nielsen (1982), we suggest that basalts from Jiangsu province may belong to a magmatic system with JF-2 as the primitive magma which has undergone fractional crystallization and evolved progressively to produce other types of basalts.