The two-dimensional (2D) carbon material shows great superiority in improving the electrochemical performance of silicon-based anode for lithium ion batteries. We synthesize a nitrogen-rich carbon/silicon composite (NRC/Si) with a graphene-like structure by an amino-carboxyl self-assembly of the citric acid, melamine and Si-NH2. The NRC/Si composite with a two-dimensional structure can effectively buffer the volume change of silicon material during cycling. Moreover, the rich-nitrogen doping improves the electronic conductivity and facilitates the charge transfer during charge and discharge process. The NRC/Si as anode material for lithium ion batteries shows good cycle stability and rate capability, delivering a reversible capacity of 1000 mA h g(-1) after 300 cycles at 2 A g(-1) and 572 mA h g(-1) even at 5 A g(-1), respectively. In addition, the synthesis method of the NRC/Si composite is cost-effective, environmentally friendly and industrially scalable, which makes it very promising to obtain the high-performance anode materials in lithium ion batteries.