•Wood vinegar was chosen as the raw material to produce H2.•With Ni/γ-Al2O3, H2 yield and concentration can reach 73.94 mg/g sample and 69.01%, respectively.•With Ni/Ce/γ-Al2O3, carbon deposited decreased from 3.45% to 2.64% and shifted to the lower temperature area.Ni/γ-Al2O3 catalyst had been studied to produce hydrogen from the wood vinegar from Camellia oleifera shell as feedstock by the continuous catalytic reforming. The results showed that the yield of gas slightly increased with increasing calcination temperature of catalysts. The yield of hydrogen soared from 12.35 to 19.65 g/g sample with gas yield increased from 470.40 to 808.72 ml/min as the reaction temperature increased from 500 to 800 °C. However, the hydrogen yield decreased significantly from 73.94 to 8.04 g/g sample as the WHSV increased from 0.636 to 4.38/h. Ni/Ce/γ-Al2O3 catalyst exhibited the best catalytic activity and selectivity as well remarkable stability among all the catalysts studied. XRD result revealed that calcined temperature played an important role in controlling the size of Ni particle. Over Ni/Ce/γ-Al2O3, the amount of carbon deposit decreased to 2.6% compared to 3.5% over a catalyst without a promoter. And the species and dispersion of carbon shifted to the area of lower temperature. FT-IR showed the main component of carbon deposit was CH2, CH3, CO, loop, substituted phenyl group.