Cellulose could be efficiently converted into sorbitol in the presence of hydrogen and an extremely low phosphoric acid concentration over a magnetic catalyst. Effects of various process conditions toward the conversion efficiency were discussed in greater detail. X-ray powder diffraction analysis indicated the essential properties of prepared catalysts. A sorbitol yield of 68.07% was obtained at 488 K with a catalyst dosage of 20%. The experiments showed that Ni4.63Cu1Al1.82Fe0.79 sustained better activity after being reused 3 or 4 times.