Steam gasification of char from Shenhua coal direct liquefaction residue (DLR) was investigated in a fixed bed reactor. The effect of temperature, mineral, liquefaction catalyst and heavy oil remained in the residue on the gasification property were examined. Compared with coal char, liquefaction residue char has lower gasification reactivity due to its main component of unreacted coal, heavy oil and condensation products during liquefaction process. The mineral matter has catalysis during the steam gasification of coal char and DLR char, the liquefaction catalyst remained in the residue is Fe1-xS and has no remarkable effect on the steam gasification reactivity, because during the steam gasification process large amount of H2S is produced by the remained liquefaction catalyst (Fe1-xS), which restrains the steam gasification of residue. After extraction of the heavy oil from the residue, the BET surface and pore structure of residue char increase but the steam gasification ability decreases.