For the better understanding of the actual evapotranspiration (AET) of Beijing region from 1980 to 2016, the AET was estimated using the Budyko based empirical model proposed by Fu Baopu, which excels at the estimation of AET at basin scale. The temporal and spatial variations of AET and its influencing factors were investigated using the Mann-Kendall test method and the correlation analysis. To improve the applicability of Fu Baopu model in the study area, the parameters of the model were calibrated and validated by the water balance model together with the historical hydrometeorological data (e.g. monitored precipitation data, water surface evaporation data and runoff data). The simulation results show that this empirical model presents a high simulation accuracy and great applicability in estimating AET over Beijing region after parameter calibration. The annual mean AET of Beijing is 447 mm. At the temporal scale, the AET series from 1980 to 2016 shows a slightly decreasing trend for the whole study area. Great spatial heterogeneities are found with the largest value occurring in the mountainous area of Jiyun River Basin, followed by the east of Chaobai River Basin. Such temporal and spatial variations are highly correlated with the regional precipitation.