A bacterial strain, Gram staining negative, aerobic, long rod, motile bacterium with flagellum, designated strain YIM 98829^T, was isolated from the Aiding Lake in Xinjiang province, North-West China. The isolate produced oval subterminal endospores in swollen sporangia. The predominant menaquinone was MK-7. The cell wall peptidoglycan contained ornithine, serine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and alanine, while diaminopimelic acid could not be detected. The major whole-cell sugars contained xylose, glucose, galactose, and mannose. Diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, one unknown phospholipid, and two unidentified aminophospholipids were part of the polar lipid profile. Iso-C_15:0 and anteiso-C_15:0 were the major fatty acids. The DNA G + C content of the type strain was 38.0 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the isolate belongs to the genus Alkalibacillus. However, it differed from its closest relatives, A. haloalkaliphilus DSM 5271^T (97.04%), A. filiformis 4AG^T (96.99%), and A. silvisoli BM2^T (96.95%) in some physiological characteristics. DNA–DNA hybridization result indicated low levels of relatedness between strain YIM 98829^T and A. haloalkaliphilus JCM 12303^T (16.9%). On the basis of physiological, phenotypic, and chemotaxonomic data, strain YIM 98829^T represents a novel species of genus Alkalibacillus, for which the name Alkalibacillus aidingensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YIM 98829^T (= NBRC 114103^T = CGMCC 1.17260^T = DSM 112470^T).