MoO3 has been reported as attractive candidate of anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. In this article, a facile one-pot citric-nitrate method is proposed to synthesize MoO3/C nano-composite, which is of general applicability for other oxide/carbon anode materials. The synthesized MoO3/C presents a core–shell structure feature with a thin carbon layer coating on the surface of nano-crystalline MoO3. The MoO3/C anode exhibits superior electrochemical performance, a specific capacity of about 500 mAh g−1 in the voltage range of 0.01–3.0 V vs. Li/Li+ can be maintained after 100 cycles.