Abstract: The 8Li secondary beam to be used in the study of nuclear astrophysics is produced by the 2H( 7Li, 8Li) 1H reaction in inverse kinematics using the secondary beam line of the HI 13 tandem accelerator at China Institute of Atomic Energy. The purity of the collimated 8Li beam is better than 80%, the intensity is about 30 s -1 ·pnA -1 for 44 MeV 7Li beam. The beam can be used for the study of transfer reactions in inverse kinematics.