Abstract: In order to improve the tar quality by decreasing the heavy tar content and ensuring high tar yield, in-situ catalytic upgrading of tar from the integrated process of coal pyrolysis coupled with steam reforming of methane was conducted over carbon (KD-9) based Ni catalyst. The results show that at 650 °C, the tar yield of CP-SRM over 5Ni/KD-9 is 24.4%, which is a little lower than that of without catalyst, while the light tar yield (i.e.,18.9%) is 1.4 times higher than that of without catalyst, and the content of C₂, C₃ and C₄ alkyl used as a substitute for benzene significantly increases tar yields by 0.5, 0.6 and 4.0 times, respectively. The content of phenols and naphthalenes in tar also increases dramatically after upgrading. Isotope tracer approach combined with the mass spectra of typical components was employed in exploring the mechanism of the upgrading process. The results show that 5Ni/KD-9 catalyzes coal tar cracking and SRM at the same time. Small free radicals such as ·CH_x, ·H and ·OH generated by SRM can combine with free radicals from tar cracking, thus avoiding excessive cracking of tar.