Metastable VO 2 nanobelts were synthesized via a facile hydrothermal approach. Then the as-obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Typical samples exhibited monoclinic phase VO 2 (B) indexed as XRD, and the XPS results demonstrated that the V (IV) existed only in vanadium oxides. According to the results of TEM and SEM, the VO 2 (B) nanobelts were 0.6–2.2 μm long, typically 70–180 nm wide and 20–30 nm thick. Some factors that affected the shape of One-dimensional (1-D) VO 2 nanomaterials were briefly discussed.