A facile synthesis of Ni/CNTs catalyst with high reducibility has been performed. The as-prepared Ni/CNTs sample exhibited excellent catalytic performance for benzene hydrogenation even without pretreatment by H-2. The results indicated that using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as support in presence of ethylene glycol (EG) may result in the formation of a small amount of metallic Ni. These metallic Ni would induce to produce more metallic Ni and maintain the high activity during catalytic process. The synergy between CNTs and EG has been investigated in detail. The proposed preparation method and the promotion mechanism for catalytic hydrogenation provided a new convenient approach for the research and practical application of CNTs. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.