Ce doped FSM-16 (Ce/FSM-16) was synthesized by templating method and its photoactivity for the degradation of methyl violet, safranine T, fuchsin basic and methylthionine chloride under solar light was studied for the first time. Ce/FSM-16 had very high surface area (863 m(2) g(-1)) and pore volume (0.73 cm(3) g(-1)). Doping cerium ions appears important in bringing about sunlight photocatalytic activity. The photoactivity of Ce/FSM-16 is comparable with that of Degussa P25 under solar light. By contrast, undoped FSM-16 exhibited very strong adsorption capacity for these dyes, but did not exhibit significant photoactivity for them. The degradation of dyes catalyzed by Ce/FSM-16 under solar light followed a radical-type mechanism.