A novel semi-aromatic polyamide/mesoporous silica sphere (MSS) nanocomposite membrane is fabricated using m-phenylenediamine aqueous solution and cyclohexane-1,3,5-tricarbonyl chloride/MSS organic solution as main raw materials. The permeability can reach up to 65.09 L m(-2)h(-1), and the salt rejection can be simultaneously kept at a comparable level (95.50%) under 2000 mg L-1 NaCl and 1.5 MPa pressure. Its separation performance is significantly better than that of the contrast samples (pristine semi-aromatic and full-aromatic polyamide membranes) and other reported nanocomposite membranes.