The invention relates to the technical field of electrocatalysts and provides a cerium-containing silver-based hydrotalcite oxygen reduction catalyst as well as a preparation method and application thereof. The preparation method comprises the following steps: mixing a water-soluble silver salt, a water-soluble zinc salt, a water-soluble aluminum salt and an alkaline solution, heating to obtain silver-zinc-aluminum hydrotalcite suspension, performing solid-liquid separation to obtain a precipitate, and carrying out a hydrothermal reaction on the precipitate and water so as to obtain silver-zinc-aluminum hydrotalcite nanosheets; performing anion exchange with a Ce(DTPA)2-anion exchange solution so as to obtain Ce(DTPA)2-intercalated silver-zinc-aluminum hydrotalcite; finally performing pyrolysis and alkaline leaching, thereby obtaining the cerium-containing silver-based hydrotalcite oxygen reduction catalyst. The preparation method provided by the invention is low in cost and simple inprocess, and the prepared cerium-containing silver-based hydrotalcite oxygen reduction catalyst has excellent electrocatalytic activity.