According to the tectonic analysis in detail, this paper for the first time points out that the main tectonic framework of the central Hebei basin was an extensional structural system during the Paleogene. The system was made up of the Daxing and Baoding-Shijiazhuang detachment faults, the east Niutuozhen-east Hexiwu, west Nanmazhuang, Ningjin, Xinhe extensional faults and the Hengshui, Baodi-Tongbaizhen transform faults and/or the Xushui-Anxin transform zones. An analysis of the balanced cross-section and back-stripping of the basin indicates that the extension of the Central Hebei basin developed continuously during the Paleogene, and was the most intensive in the Shahejie-3rd stage (the Middle Oligocene). There was not a coupling relationship between the fast extension and the intensive volcanic cycle in the central Hebei basin. Lastly, the authors use an "extension by strike-slip" basin model to interpret the genetic dynamic process of the central Hebei basin.