An arguable point regarding the Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic crustal evolution of the North China Craton (NCC) is whether the tectonic setting in the central belt during the mid-Paleoproterozoic (2.35e2.0 Ga) was dominated by an extensional regime or an oceanic subductionearc regime. A review of the mid-Paleoproterozoic magmatism and sedimentation for the HengshaneWutaieFuping region suggests that a back-arc extension regime was dominant in this region. This conclusion is consistent with the observation that the 2.35e2.0 Ga magmatism shows a typical bimodal distribution where the mafic rocks mostly have arc affinities and the acidic rocks mainly comprise highly-fractioned calc-alkaline to alkaline (or A-type) granites, and that this magmatism was coeval with development of extensional basins characteristic of transgressive sequences with volcanic interlayers such as in the Hutuo Group. Although the final amalgamation of the NCC was believed to occur at w1.85 Ga, recent zircon UePb age dating for mica schist in the Wutai Group suggests a collisional event may have occurred at w1.95 Ga. The metamorphic ages of w1.85 Ga, obtained mostly from the high-grade rocks using the zircon UePb approach, most probably indicate uplifting and cooling of these high-grade terranes. This is because (i) phase modeling suggests that newly-grown zircon grains in high-grade rocks with a melt phase cannot date the age of peak pressure and temperature stages, but the age of melt crystallization in cooling stages;(i ) the metamorphic PeT paths with isobaric cooling under 6e7 kb for the Hengshan and Fuping granulites suggest their prolonged stay in the middleelower crust;and (i i) the obtained metamorphic age data show a continuous distribution from 1.95 to 1.80 Ga. Thus, an alternative tectonic scenario for the HengshaneWutaieFuping region involves:(i) formation of a proto-NCC at w2.5 Ga;(i ) back-arc extension during 2.35e2.0 Ga resulting in bimodal magmatism and sedimentation in rifting basins on an Archean basement;(i i) a crustal thickening event in the extended region resulting in a kyanite-type metamorphism at w1.95 Ga, and (iv) uplifting and cooling of the thickened crust from 1.93 to 1.80 Ga.