The invention relates to a phthalate hydrogenation catalyst which is characterized by comprising an active component, a composite support and auxiliaries, wherein the active component comprises ruthenium chloride, the composite support comprises a first support and a second support, the first support is optional one or two of shell activated carbon or coconut shell activated carbon, and the secondsupport is optional one or two of SiO2, ZrO2 or TiO2. The activated carbon and solid oxide composite support is used for supporting precious metal Ru and provided with activated carbon micropores andmesopores in solid oxide, so that a microporous-mesoporous hierarchical pore structure is formed, high dispersion of the active component is facilitated, diffusion of reactants can be improved, and the use efficiency of the catalyst is improved. The transformation rate of the catalyst in reaction of cyclohexane phthalate preparation by phthalate hydrogenation is 100%, and cyclohexane phthalate selectivity reaches up to 99.9%. The catalyst is simple in preparation technology, the support is low in price and easy to obtain, the active component is low in precious metal loading capacity, the catalyst is high in activity and product yield, by-products are almost avoided, reaction conditions are mild, and reaction can be performed under lower pressure and at lower temperature.