The invention provides a method for refining xylose hydrolysate. The method includes: utilizing the different adsorption capacity of absorbent resin on carbohydrates and ions to separate sugar from foreign ions, and then reducing the conductivity of the material fluid from 20000 microsiemens/cm to about 1000 microsiemens/cm. The more foreign ions in liquid sugar, the better desalting effect. The method provided by the invention is especially suitable for separation of high conductivity material liquid. And in the invention, the sugar recovery rate is not less than 95%. Compared with traditional technologies, a lot of acid and alkali consumption and water consumption can be saved, and the repair and maintenance cost is low.