A series of catalysts with different core-shell structures has been successfully prepared by a hydrothermal method. They consisted of CeCoO x @TiO 2 (single shell), CeCoO x @Nb 2 O 5 (single shell) and CeCoO x @Nb 2 O 5 @TiO 2 (double shell) core-shell nanocages and CeCoO x nanocages, in which CeCoO x was the core and TiO 2 and Nb 2 O 5 were shells. The influence of the core-shell structure on the catalytic performance of o-dichlorobenzene was investigated by activity, water-resistance, and thermal stability tests as well as catalyst characterization. The temperatures corresponding to 90 % conversion of o-dichlorobenzene (T 90 ) of CeCoO x , CeCoO x @TiO 2 , CeCoO x @Nb 2 O 5 , and CeCoO x @Nb 2 O 5 @TiO 2 catalysts were 415, 383, 362 and 367°C, respectively. CeCoO x @Nb 2 O 5 exhibited excellent catalytic activity, mainly owing to the special core-shell structure, large specific surface area, abundant activity of Co 3 + , Ce 3 + , Nb 5 + , strong reducibility, and more active oxygen vacancies. It can be seen that the Nb 2 O 5 coating can greatly improve the catalytic activity of the catalyst. In addition, due to the protective effect of the TiO 2 shell on CeCoO x , CeCoO x @Nb 2 O 5 @TiO 2 catalysts exhibited outstanding thermal and hydrothermal stability for 20 hours. The T 90 of CeCoO x @Nb 2 O 5 @TiO 2 was slightly lower than that of CeCoO x @Nb 2 O 5 , but it had higher stability and hydrothermal stability. Furthermore, possible reaction pathways involving the Mars-van-Krevelen (MvK) and Langmuir-Hinshelwood (LÀ H) models were deduced based on studies of the temperature-programmed desorption of O 2 (O 2 -TPD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and in situ diffuse reflectance FTIR spectroscopy (DRIFTS) characterization.