A surface cladding of nano-sized Li2SnO3 powder on Ni-rich layered LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 compounds for lithium ion batteries have been successfully achieved through a two-step synthesis process. The structures and morphologies of as-prepared samples have been analyzed. A cladding layer of Li2SnO3 can be distinguished on the surface of host material and the thickness is about 15nm with uniform distribution. The optimized Li2SnO3-coated sample displays better rate performance and higher capacity retentions of 94.9% at 10C after 100 cycles than that of the bare one (68.3%) at 3.0–4.5V. In addition, Li2SnO3 as an effective coating layer can enhance the cycle stability and rate property of electrodes.