<p>The Q235 steel is usually used to produce the side guide plate for coiler machine, but its wear resistance is poor. In order to improve its wear resistance, Ni-based composite coatings with high WC content were prepared on the surface of Q235 steel by laser cladding technology. The WC content in the coatings was designed to be 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55%, respectively. The microstructure and phase composition of the coatings were analyzed by scanning electron microscope, energy-dispersive spectrometer and x-ray diffractometer. The microhardness of the coatings was tested by Vickers hardness tester, and the wear resistance of the coating was tested by friction and wear tester, respectively. The results showed that the phases of the coatings mainly included γ-Ni, FeNi₃, FeNi, WC, NiC_<i>x</i>, Fe₃C, (Fe, Ni)₂₃C₆, Ni₄B₃, Cr₃C₂ and W₅Si₃. The top and middle regions of the coatings were composed of cellular crystals, dendrites and equiaxed crystals. The bonding region of the coatings was composed of columnar crystal, equiaxed crystal and planar crystal. The WC particles were mainly distributed in the middle and bonding regions of the coating. The average microhardness of the composite coatings was 681.3, 690.9, 706.7, 715.7 and 731.1 HV_0.2, respectively. When the WC content was 45%, the wear volume of the L4 coating was only 0.024 mm³, which was smaller than others at 25&#xa0;°C. Therefore, the L4 coating had the best wear resistance at 25&#xa0;°C. Similarly, the L4 coating also had the best wear resistance at 400&#xa0;°C. The wear mechanisms were adhesive wear and oxidation wear, abrasive wear and oxidation wear, respectively. As the content of WC increases, the dissolution degree of WC particles in the coating increased with the increase in WC content, which promoted the formation of hard phases, such as W₅Si₃.</p>