Abstract: Effects of coal characteristics including rank, macerals, coal ash and ash content on combustion catalyzed by CeO₂ were investigated using demineralized coals and coal ash. The results show that coal rank has remarkable effect on catalytic combustion. The higher the coal rank, the more decrease in ignition temperature of its demineralized coal. There is no obvious effect of CeO₂ on combustion of Shenhua coal macerals. Coal ash has some catalytic effects on combustion coal organics. The catalytic effect of mixture of ash and CeO₂ is more than that of ash or CeO₂ independently, showing they have interactions for catalytic anthracite combustion. Effects of ash content on catalytic combustion were investigated by synthesized coal, indicating catalytic effect was the best with 6% ash content. When coal ash content is over 18%, CeO₂ has some inhibiting effects on anthracite combustion. CeO₂ only has catalytic effect on combustion of higher rank coal with lower inorganic content.