Abstract: The influencing factors of the coalbed methane(CBM) exploitation potential were investigated in the paper.Four second-order indices,including gas content,sealing capacity,exploitation conditions and production capacity,and their corresponding third-order indices for assessment of the CBM exploitation potential were estab-lished.The weight values of all second and third-order indices were determined by the fuzzy mathematics and the multi-layered fuzzy mathematics model for assessment of the CBM exploitation potential was set up.As a case study,the multi-layered fuzzy mathematics model was applied to the assessment of the CBM exploitation potential in the four anthracite coal mining areas with better coalbed methane resource conditions in southern Sichuan Basin,including Gulin-Xuyong,Songzao,Junlian and Furong coal mines.The results showed that the Songzao mining area has the best potential for CBM exploitation among these four mining areas,and should be the most favorable testing area of the CBM exploitation.The assessment system established in the paper can be regarded as a reference model in CBM exploitation potential assessment of the high-rank coals.