Lithium vanadyl phosphate (β-LiVOPO4) cathode material for lithium ion batteries was prepared via a novel solid state method. The microstructure and electrochemical properties of the sample were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, galvanostatically discharge/discharge and cyclic voltammetry techniques, respectively. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that β-LiVOPO4 has an orthorhombic structure with space group of Pnma. The discharge capacity of LiVOPO4 sample is 89.9 mAh•g-1 in the first cycle, and in the 50th cycle it is 76.2 mAh•g-1 at the current density of 10 mA•g-1 between 3.0-4.5 V. The chemical diffusion coefficient ( ) value determined from CV is about 10-11 cm2 s-1. Experimental results indicate that further efforts are needed to improve electrochemical performances of LiVOPO4 material synthesized by solid state method; however, it has a higher discharge plateau around 3.9 V.