<P>Succinic acid (1,4-butanedioic acid) is identified as one of important building-block chemicals. Xylose mother liquor is an abundant industrial residue in xylitol biorefining industry. In this study, xylose mother liquor was utilized to produce succinic acid by recombinant <I>Escherichia coli</I> strain SD121, and the response surface methodology was used to optimize the fermentation media. The optimal conditions of succinic acid fermentation were as follows: 82.62 g L<SUP>−1</SUP> total initial sugars, 42.27 g L<SUP>−1</SUP> MgCO<SUB>3</SUB> and 17.84 g L<SUP>−1</SUP> yeast extract. The maximum production of succinic acid was 52.09 ± 0.21 g L<SUP>−1</SUP> after 84 h with a yield of 0.63 ± 0.03 g g<SUP>−1</SUP> total sugar, approaching the predicted value (53.18 g L<SUP>−1</SUP>). It was 1.78-fold of the production of that obtained with the basic medium. This was the first report on succinic acid production from xylose mother liquor by recombinant <I>E. coli</I> strains with media optimization using response surface methodology. This work suggested that the xylose mother liquor could be an alternative substrate for the economical production of succinic acid by recombinant <I>E. coli</I> strains.</P>