The CuO-CeO2 catalyst prepared by chelating method has a superior catalytic performance for the preferential oxidation of CO in rich hydrogen, compared with the CuO-CeO2 catalyst prepared by coprecipitation method. The CO conversions over these catalysts, at 120 ℃ and 120000 ml/(g.h) in the absence of CO2 and H2O, are 99.6% and 88.6%, respectively, and the selectivity of O2 over these catalysts is very close (i.e. 51.3% and 55.8%, respectively). The influence of certain factors such as hydrogen concentration, carbon monoxide concentration, H2O, O2/CO ratios, and space velocity on the catalytic performance of CuO-CeO2 catalyst prepared by chelating method is also studied. The results show that the addition of hydrogen and H2O has a negative effect on the catalytic performance of CuO-CeO2 catalyst,however, the variation of space velocity and the O2/CO ratio causes a comparatively slight influence.