Mesoporous Ni-8YSZ powder was prepared by a simple route and used as catalyst in methane reforming with carbon dioxide. The mesoporous catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and CO2 temperature-programmed desorption. The influence of synthesis conditions on the structure of the final product was experimentally investigated and the mechanism for the formation of mesoporous structure was briefly discussed. The performance of the as-prepared samples with different pore sizes was evaluated by conducting the reforming reaction in a fixed-bed reactor under atmospheric pressure at 700 degrees C. The results showed that the structure of the catalyst has a strong effect on the performance of the catalyst and the mesoporous Ni-8YSZ catalyst with relatively uniform pore size distribution and small average pore diameter exhibited high activity and stability in the reforming reaction.