For the first time, a novel composite catalyst, namely, a multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) supported palladium and lead catalyst (denoted as PdxPby/MWCNTs), was prepared through a hydrothermal method using PdO, PbO and MWCNTs as the starting materials. The electrocatalytic activities of the resultant catalysts towards EOR in 1M KOH were examined mainly by using CV, CA and EIS. The electrochemical measurement results indicated that the peak current of EOR in the forward potential scan on the catalyst of Pd1Pb1/MWCNTs was almost 9 times larger, plus about 100 mV decrease in the onset potential value of EOR, than that on the Pb-free catalyst. A very simple, cost-effective and scalable way to synthesize Pd and Pb composite electrocatalyst for EOR was presented in this work, which was very meaningful to the further commercialization of EOR. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.