In order to make biodegradable magnesium alloys corrosion resistant for a potential orthopaedic and bio-implant application, their surface should be modified with bioactive bone-like hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings. In the present paper, the initial step of coating formation on Mg alloy was studied by electrochemical techniques. The electrocrystallization and growth of the surface film occur as an instantaneous 3D nucleation under diffusion control, as was extracted from a fitting procedure of current-time transient data to the various nucleation models. Electrodeposited calcium hydrogenphosphate coatings were converted into bone-like HA (calcium deficient HA) in an alkaline treatment. The bioactive properties of HA coatings have been directly identified with a Ca/P mole ratio. Their morphology, composition and barrier properties were identified using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and voltammetry. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.