Objective To investigate the effects of cediranib on hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α)/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway and proliferation, migration and invasion of liver cancer cells. Methods The hypoxia microenvironment was simulated in vitro, and different doses of cediranib were used to intervene the human hepatoma cell HepG2, MTT assay was used to detect the proliferation of human hepatoma cell HepG2, Transwell chamber assay was used to detect the invasion and migration of human hepatoma cell HepG2, tumor formation in nude mice was used to detect the growth of human hepatoma cell HepG2 in vivo, the angiogenesis of tumor tissue and expression level of HIF-1α/VEGF pathway protein were detected by immunohistochemistry. Results Compared with the control group, the proliferation rate, invasion and migration abilities, and the expression of HIF-1α/VEGF pathway proteins of human hepatoma cell HepG2 were significantly decreased in the different concentration of cediranib treatment group (P<0.05), the tumor volume and microvessel formation of tumor tissues in nude mice were significantly reduced (P<0.05). Conclusion Cediranib may inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of liver cancer cells by inhibiting HIF-1α/VEGF signaling pathway.