Abstract: In order to study the influence of laser shock processing on the friction and wear properties of magnesium alloy, some AM50 specimens were processed with Nd:glass pulse laser, and the surface morphology, roughness, microstructure, micro-hardness and frictional characterization were examined and analyzed. The experimental results showed that, after laser shock processing, the surface roughness was increased slightly, a lot of dislocations and twins were found in the strengthening layer, hardness was improved significantly, surface micro-hardness was improved to about 67HV as compared with about 40HV of the substrate, and the depth of strengthening layer was about 0.8mm. The friction and wear behaviors were investigated using a ball-on-flat apparatus under dry sliding condition. It was found that the main wear mechanism was abrasive wear, the friction coefficient curve of the LSP specimen was similar to that of the untreated specimen, and the wear volume of the LSP specimen was slightly bigger than that of the untreated specimen. Although the effect of laser shock strengthening magnesium alloy is evident, the influence of laser shock processing on the friction and wear properties of magnesium alloy is slight.