In this work, the Cu/ZrO2 catalysts, in which the support zirconia is made by supercritical drying, exhibit high activity and selectivity for the synthesis of methanol from CO/H-2. Potassium is an effective promoter for the catalysts. EXAFS results reveal that the copper atoms in the reduced and used catalysts are predominantly in the zero valent state and in the course of reaction the copper particles redispersed to a higher dispersion state.