Aerobic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) as a bioplastics monomer is efficiently promoted by a simple system based on a nonprecious-metal catalyst of MnO2 and NaHCO3. Kinetic studies indicate that the oxidation of 5-formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (FFCA) to FDCA is the slowest step for the aerobic oxidation of HMF to FDCA over activated MnO2. We demonstrate through combined computational and experimental studies that HMF oxidation to FDCA is largely dependent on the MnO2 crystal structure. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that vacancy formation energies at the planar oxygen sites in alpha- and gamma-MnO2 are higher than those at the bent oxygen sites. beta- and lambda-MnO2 consist of only planar and bent oxygen sites, respectively, with lower vacancy formation energies. Consequently, beta- and lambda-MnO2 are likely to be good candidates as oxidation catalysts. On the other hand, experimental studies reveal that the reaction rates per surface area for the slowest step (FFCA oxidation to FDCA) decrease in the order of beta-MnO2 > lambda-MnO2 > gamma-MnO2 alpha-MnO2 > delta-MnO2 > epsilon-MnO2; the catalytic activity of beta-MnO2 exceeds that of the previously reported activated MnO2 by three times. The order is in good agreement not only with the DFT calculation results, but also with the reduction rates per surface area determined by the H-2-temperature-programmed reduction measurements for MnO2 catalysts. The successful synthesis of high-surface-area beta-MnO2 significantly improves the catalytic activity for the aerobic oxidation of HMF to FDCA.