The effect of Ce dopant on phase, morphology, optical property and photocatalytic activity of ZnWO₄ was investigated in this research. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and UV–visible spectroscopy. The results showed that the pure product was monoclinic ZnWO₄ nanorods with the growth direction of [021] and that Ce³⁺ and W⁶⁺ ions contained in the Ce-doped products. The photocatalytic activities of the photocatalysts were evaluated through the degradation of methylene blue (MB) solutions under UV-light illumination. The results showed that the efficiencies for MB photocatalytic degradation were influenced by Ce dopant. The photocatalytic activities of the Ce-doped ZnWO₄ samples were higher than that of the pure ZnWO₄.