A type of novel MWCNT-supported Ni-Mo-K catalysts for higher alcohol synthesis (HAS) from syngas was developed, which displayed excellent performance for the selective formation of C 1-3 -alcohols and DME from syngas. Over the 15%Ni 1 Mo 1 K 0.05 /CNTs catalyst under the reaction conditions of 5.0 MPa and 538 K, the C-based selectivity of (C 1-3 -alc. ? DME) reached 59.0%, with the corresponding STY of 205 mg h -1 g -1 . This value was 1.16 times that of the 35%Ni 1 Mo 1 K 0.05 /AC catalyst with the optimal Ni 1 Mo 1 K 0.05 loading, and 1.76 times that of the non-supported co-precipitated Ni 1 Mo 1 K 0.05 host system, under the same reaction conditions. The results of the catalyst characterizations revealed that the CNT-support has strong influence on the chemical states of catalyst via its interaction with the supported Ni-Mo components, leading to the increase of the molar percentage of NiO(OH) and Mo 4? /Mo 5? (the two kinds of catalytically active surface-species related closely to selective formation of C 1-3 -alcohols) and the dramatic decrease of the molar percentage of Ni 0 and Mo 0 (the two kinds of catalytically active surface-species related closely to selective formation of hydrocarbons, especially methanation of CO). Moreover, the CNT-support also provided the sp 2 -C surfacesites for adsorption-activation of H 2 . All these factors contribute to an increase in selectivity of generating C 1-3 -alcohols.