To investigate the effects of chlorine on the Au/ceria catalysts, the adsorption of gold or chlorine and their coadsorpiton on the stoichiometric and partially reduced CeO2 (111) surfaces are studied from the first principles. It is found that the adsorption of Au is significantly enhanced by the chlorine preadsorption on the stoichiometric CeO2 (111) surface;while on the partially reduced CeO2 (111) surface, the preadsorbed chlorine inhabits the oxygen vacancy (which is the preferred adsorption site for gold), leading to a CeOCl phase and the dramatical weakening of the Au adsorption. Therefore, chlorine on the CeO2 (111) surface can affect the Au adsorption thus the activity of Au/CeO2 catalyst.