Ultrathin zinc oxide nanowires with diameter less than 50 nm were synthesized by polyethyleneimine assisted solution method. Zinc oxide nanowire near band edge emission was enhanced obviously by gold nanoparticles coating, and a max 26 times enhancement was realized. The defects caused visible light emission was also quenched to noise level when gold was deposited more than 10 s. The large near band edge emission enhancement was caused by surface plasmon resonance mediated luminescent energy transfer, which absorbed the visible light energy and transferred to the near band edge emission. The large surface to volume ratio enhanced the coupling strength between gold nanoparticles and ultrathin zinc oxide nanowires. This research provide a method to improve the luminescent efficiency of zinc oxide nanowires. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.