Surface modification of magnesium alloy AZ91HP (9wt%Al, 0.5wt%Zn, 0.5wt%Mn, Mg remaining percentage) by high current pulsed electron beam (HCPEB) treatment was studied in this paper. The secondary phase Mg17Al12 is nearly completely dissolved and as a result, a super-saturated solid solution forms on the re-melted surface.The microhardness is increased both in and far beyond the heat-affected zone (HAZ), reaching about 250μm.Measurements on sliding wear have shown that the wear resistance of the treated samples was improved by a factor of about 2.4 as compared to the as-received sample. It is also found that the sliding wear resistance can be further improved by surface alloying with TiN.