A designed electrode material of carbon‐encapsulated tin dioxide core–shell nanowires that are synthesized directly on reduced graphene oxide substrates is reported, and its application as a positive electrode material for lithium‐ion battery is shown. Each of the individual tin dioxide nanowires is wrapped with carbon shell layers and grown on a reduced graphene oxide substrate, which gives rise to structural benefits for electrochemical performance of the lithium‐ion battery. Such carbon structures allow the electrode materials to withstand the mechanical stress during repeated charge/discharge processes and facilitate the reaction kinetics for the lithiation/delithiation processes. In the electrochemical cell tests, the synergetic effect of the proposed electrode design is explicitly verified by presenting highly enhanced rate capability and cycle durability on full‐cell batteries as well as half‐cell tests.