A series of metal-modified hierarchical M/H-ZSM-5 catalysts were prepared for catalytic conversion of cellulose in an aqueous medium. Characterization of the catalysts showed that the impregnation of metal into H-ZSM-5 did not change the basic framework and pore structure of H-ZSM-5, but it decreased the total acidity. Analysis of the products indicated that the catalysts significantly affected products distribution. When Co/H-ZSM-5 and Fe/H-ZSM-5 were used as the catalysts, the yields of lactic acid and cyclic ketones obviously increased. At last, a recommendable catalytic transformation pathway ofcellulose over M/H-ZSM-5 was proposed on the basis of the obtained experimental results and the published literatures.Graphical AbstractIn this paper, a series of metal-modified hierarchical M/H-ZSM-5 (M=Ce, Co, Ga, and Fe) catalysts were prepared and employed in catalytic conversion of cellulose in aqueous media to examined the products distribution of cellulose catalytic conversion. Based on our results and previous works, the plausible general reaction pathways ofcelluloseover M/H-ZSM-5 were proposed. [GRAPHICS] .