A new process is developed by using compound Mn as intermediate to produce Cl-2 from HCl, with the following steps. (1) HCl steam is decomposed by intermediate Mn2O3 to produce Cl-2 and MnCl2 at 500 degrees C. (2) Produced MnCl2 is oxidized by water steam to produce MnO at 450 degrees C. (3) The MnO compound is oxidized by air to yield Mn2O3. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) crystallite characterization results indicate the high conversion in each step under the optimum experimental conditions. Long term experiments for continuous conversion of HCl to Cl-2 by using Mn2O3 as intermediate in a fixed bed reactor indicate that over 90% of HCl could be converted to Cl-2 on stream of 30 h. The production of Cl-2 from HCl with Mn compound as an intermediate and atmospheric steam is a feasible and recyclable process. (C) 2014 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.