Catalytic reactions usually proceed on a catalyst surface, and surface properties could be fine-tuned by the catalyst shape and exposed crystal-plane. In the present work, morphology-dependent CeMnO x nanostructures (rods, octahedrons, and cubes) were synthesized via the hydrothermal method, and they exposed special crystal-planes of {111}/{100}/{110}, {111}, and {100} for CeMnO x rods, octahedrons, and cubes, respectively. The best catalytic activity for the catalytic combustion reaction of 1,2dichlorobenzene (o-DCB) whether in dry or wet conditions was observed over CeMnO x rods followed by CeMnO x octahedrons and cubes. The optimum catalytic performance of CeMnO x rods could be associated to its high reducibility and large amounts of oxygen vacancies. An interesting phenomenon was observed on kinetic results that the variation of active energy, reaction rate, and TOF were inconsistent with T 90 , and they could be explained by weak and medium strong acidity, indicating the shape effects of CeMnO x nanostructures.