Developing electrode materials with both high energy and power densities is of crucial importance for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). In this work, a novel anode material, graphite nanoplates firmly anchoring with well-dispersed porous Zn3V2O8 nanospheres (Zn3V2O8/GNPs), is rationally fabricated via a simple and scalable liquid reflux and subsequent calcination process. The introduced GNP matrices significantly improved the electrochemical performances of the Zn3V2O8/GNPs by enhancing structural durability of the electrodes and facilitating the electron-transfer and mass-transport kinetics. Thus, the Zn3V2O8/GNPs-50 exhibits a reversible specific capacity of 648 mA h g(-1) at a current density of 0.8 A g(-1) after 100 cycles and 488 mA h g(-1) at a high current density of 3.2 A g(-1) after 400 cycles. Inspiringly, a new full cell (Zn3V2O8/GNPs-50//LNCM-111) was successfully assembled, which manifested superior electrochemical performances. Hence, we believe that this study demonstrates a promising anode material for next generation LIBs, and particularly, provides a strategy for the rational design of GNPs-based metal oxide composite materials. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.