Thermochemical liquefaction of Camellia oleifera cake (COC) for producing bio-oil was conducted in supercritical methanol (SCML), ethanol (SCEL) and acetone (SCAL), respectively. GC-MS, elemental analysis and ICP-OES were used to characterize properties of bio-oil. Results showed that thermochemical liquefaction of COC was a prominent process for generating bio-oil. Increase of temperature was beneficial to the increase of bio-oil yield, and yield of bio-oil followed the sequence of SCAL > SCEL > SCML. In spite of the highest bio-oil yield, the lowest calorific value and highest contents of Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni, Fe, Mn, and Cr were found in bio-oil from SCAL. Though SCML has very similar bin-oil composition and calorific value with SCEL, higher bio-oil yield and lower contents of heavy metals could be obtained with SCEL, especially in bin-oil from SCEL at 300 degrees C. Moreover, the origin of ethanol could make the bin-oil product totally renewable. Therefore, liquefaction of COC in SCEL at 300 degrees C could have great potential in generating bin-oil. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.