Hollow carbon nanospheres embedded with ultrafine Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4@HCNS) were synthesized by using carboxyl functionalized polystyrene latexes as template and poly dopamine as carbon precursor. The ultrafine Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) had a small size of 3∼5nm and the HCNS had a thin shell thickness of 15nm in the Fe3O4@HCNS. As a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries, the Fe3O4@HCNS exhibited high reversible capacity, excellent cycling stability (1380mAhg−1 after 200 cycles at 1Ag−1) and high-rate capability (475mAhg−1 at 5Ag−1, 290mAhg−1 at 10Ag−1). The outstanding performance was attributed to the unique structure of the Fe3O4@HCNS, which greatly shorten the path of Li ions intercalation during charging and discharging.