The plastic deformation simulation of AZ31 magnesium alloy at different elevated temperatures (from 473 to 723 K) was performed on Gleeble-1500 thermal mechanical simulator at the strain rates of 0.01, 0.1, 1, 5 and 10 s~(-1) and the maximum deformation degree of 80%. The relationship between the flow stress and deformation temperature as well as strain rate was analyzed. The materials parameters and the apparent activation energy were calculated. The constitutive relationship was established with a Zener-Hollomon (Z) parameter. The results show that the flow stress increases with the increase of strain rate at a constant temperature, but it decreases with the increase of deformation temperature at a constant strain rate. The apparent activation energy is estimated to be 129-153 kJ/mol, which is close to that for self-diffusion of magnesium. The established constitutive relationship can reflect the change of flow stress during hot deformation.