Effects of promoters such as zirconia and zinc oxide to copper catalysts have been studied in methanol steam reforming (MSR) reaction at 260 A degrees C. The catalytic activity and stability of copper are improved by promoters, especially zirconia. The results of S (BET) and S (Cu) represent that both promoters can increase S (BET) of catalysts from 0.26 to 0.28-0.99 m(2)/g and S (Cu) of them from 0.13 to 0.21-0.25 m(2)/g and XRD further illustrate that they can stabilize the crystal size of copper in process of reduction and reaction. Besides, XPS results indicate that both ZnO and ZrO2 can stabilize Cu+ species and promote the catalytic activity for MSR. In addition, the rich surface hydroxyl species on ZrO2/Cu account for its superior catalytic performance to ZnO/Cu and Cu.