WO 3 nanobars with the length of 10–50nm and the width of 3–6nm on carbon (C-WO 3 ) are synthesized through an ionic exchange route to locally anchor the metatungstate ions (W 7 O 24 6 − ). The structures, morphologies and catalytic performance of the as-synthesized nanomaterials are characterized by various physical and electrochemical methods. The results indicate that Pt nanoparticles supporting on C-WO 3 (Pt/C-WO 3 ) are highly active and stable as cathode electrocatalyst for fuel cells. On one hand, a mass activity of 174.6mAmg −1 Pt at 0.9V is obtained for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which is much higher than that on commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst (98.6mAmg −1 Pt ). On the other hand, Pt/C-WO 3 electrocatalyst shows excellent electrochemical stability than Pt/C. The origin of these improvements in the catalytic activity can be attributed to the synergistic or promotion effect of WO 3 on Pt. The improvement in the electrochemical stability is due to and also explains the stronger interaction force between Pt and WO 3 than that between Pt and C. The present method is simple and effective, which can be readily scale up for the production of other nanomaterials as well as WO 3.