To develop non-precious metal catalysts with superior activity and stability for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) remains challenging for application of full cells. Herein, we designed a strategy to prepare N-doped porous carbon-encapsulated Fe nanoparticles (Fe@N/C) catalysts by simply annealing glucose, melamine and Fe-based formate frameworks [NH4][ Fe(HCOO)(3)]. Remarkably, the as-prepared Fe@N/C-800 showed excellent ORR activity with a half-wave potential of 0.810 V vs RHE, which was more positive 40 mV than commercial Pt/C in 0.1 M KOH. Besides, it also displayed strong methanol tolerance and enhanced long-term durability. Even in acidic solution, Fe@N/C-800 also exhibited good catalytic activity compared with other non-precious metal catalysts (NPMCs). The excellent electrocatalytic performance could be attributed to large surface area, good conductivity of N-doped porous carbon layer and synergistic effect of predominant pyridinic N together with Fe-relative active sites encapsulated in N-doped porous carbon layer. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.