Objective Four-carbon dicarboxylic acids are a class of important platform chemicals widely used in the food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. However, the efficiency of microbial fermentation for producing four-carbon dicarboxylic acids still faces challenges, mainly limited by insufficient central carbon metabolic flux and byproduct accumulation. Methods This study used Escherichia coli as the chassis strain and adopted a strategy combining rational metabolic engineering and non-rational modification to systematically optimize the four-carbon dicarboxylic acid synthesis capacity of E. coli. Results The non-cyclic glyoxylate shunt was reconstructed and the expression of key pathway enzymes was optimized to enhance the metabolic flux toward four-carbon dicarboxylic acids. The synthesis capacity of four-carbon dicarboxylic acids was enhanced by employing atmospheric and room-temperature plasma (ARTP) mutagenesis. The knockout of key genes in the acetate, formate, and lactate synthesis pathways effectively minimized carbon flux diversion, thereby enhancing the availability of oxaloacetate, the central precursor to four-carbon dicarboxylic acids. On this basis, through specific modification of terminal metabolic pathways, the engineering strain E. coli Fum02 for fumaric acid production were constructed. Finally, in a 5 L fermenter, the fumaric acid titer, yield, and productivity of the engineering strain E. coli Fum02 reached 45.2 g/L, 0.45 g/g, and 0.23 g/(L·h), respectively. Furthermore, by blocking the succinate dehydrogenase gene (sdhAB) and implementing fermentation optimization strategies, this platform strain could also be redirected toward efficient succinate production. Conclusion This study provides a reference for the metabolic engineering modification of bacteria to produce organic acids and also lays a foundation for the industrial biomanufacturing of four-carbon dicarboxylic acids.