SnO2 hollow nanofibers (SnO2 hNFs) are prepared through electrospinning and annealing processes. The polypyrrole layers coated onto the surface of the SnO2 hNFs are annealed in a nitrogen atmosphere. The nitrogen-doped carbon-coated SnO2 hNFs (SnO2/NC hNFs) are composed of SnO2 hNFs with a wall thickness of 60-80 nm and a nitrogen-doped carbon layer similar to 10 nm thick. The nitrogen content in the carbon layer is approximately 7.95%. Owing to the nitrogen-doped carbon shell layers, the specific reversible capacity of SnO2/NC hNFs at a current density of 0.2 A g(-1) after 100 cycles is 1648 mAh g(-1) which is 427% higher than that of (386 mAh g(-1)) SnO2 hNFs. This strategy may open new avenues for the design of other composite architectures as electrode materials in order to achieve high-performance lithium ion batteries. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.