A nano-LiFePO4/C composite has been directly synthesized from micrometer-sized Li2CO3, NH4H2PO4, and FeC2O4·2H2O by the lauric acid-assisted solid-state reaction method. The SEM and TEM observations demonstrate that the synthesized nano-LiFePO4/C composite has well-dispersed particles with a size of about 100–200nm and an in situ carbon layer with thickness of about 2nm. The prepared nano-LiFePO4/C composite has superior rate capability, delivering a discharge capacity of 141.2mAhg−1 at 5°C, 130.9mAhg−1 at 10C, 121.7mAhg−1 at 20°C, and 112.4mAhg−1 at 30°C. At −20°C, this cathode material still exhibits good rate capability with a discharge capacity of 91.9mAhg−1 at 1°C. The nano-LiFePO4/C composite also shows excellent cycling ability with good capacity retention, up to 100 cycles at a high current density of 30°C. Furthermore, the effect of lauric acid in the preparation of nano-LiFePO4/C composite was investigated by comparing it with that of citric acid. The SEM images reveal that the morphology of the LiFePO4/C composite transformed from the porous structure to fine particles as the molar ratio of lauric acid/citric acid increased.