To improve the anti-rollover capacity of a counterbalanced forklift, a two-stage rollover dynamic model is established on the basis of the forklift structure. Stable zones are divided according to the two-stage lateral load transfer rate: stable region, relatively stable region, dangerous zone and abnormal dangerous zone. An anti-rollover layered control strategy based on stable zone partition is proposed, and different anti-rollover control actuators are selected: dynamic balance weight, anti-rollover cylinder and steering cylinder. Anti-rollover controllers consist of the upper stable region identification controller, the middle-level controller based on model predictive control (MPC) and the lower layer executive controller. The upper stable region identification controller performs stable zone recognition based on the two-stage lateral load transfer rate. The middlelevel MPC controller calculates the required control torque with the body’s lateral angle and yaw rate as the control objectives. The lower layer executive controller controls the balance weight, anti-rollover cylinder and the steering cylinder according to the improved chain incremental allocation method to meet the target control torque. Simulation and real vehicle tests based on MATLAB/Simulink show that the anti-rollover control based on stable zone partition can greatly reduce the risk of forklift rollover and improve the forklift safety.