CeO 2 nanooctahedrons, nanorods, and nanocubes were prepared by the hydrothermal method and were then used as supports of Cu-based catalysts for the water-gas shift (WGS) reaction. The chemical and physical properties of these catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N 2 adsorption/desorption, UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction (H 2 -TPR) and in situ diffuse reflectance infra-red fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) techniques. Characterization results indicate that the morphology of the CeO 2 supports, originating from the selective exposure of different crystal planes, has a distinct impact on the dispersion of Cu and the catalytic properties. The nanooctahedron CeO 2 catalyst (Cu-CeO 2 -O) showed the best dispersion of Cu, the largest amount of moderate copper oxide, and the strongest Cu-support interaction. Consequently, the Cu-CeO 2 -O catalyst exhibited the highest CO conversion at the temperature range of 150-250 • C when compared with the nanocube and nanorod Cu-CeO 2 catalysts. The optimized Cu content of the Cu-CeO 2 -O catalysts is 10 wt % and the CO conversion reaches 91.3% at 300 • C. A distinctive profile assigned to the evolution of different types of carbonate species was observed in the 1000-1800 cm −1 region of the in situ DRIFTS spectra and a particular type of carbonate species was identified as a potential key reaction intermediate at low temperature.