Polylactic acid was synthesized from commer- cial available cheap aqueous lactic acid (85%―90% w/w) using succinic anhydride and SnCl2·2H2O as catalyst in the absence of organic solvents. As a result, polylactic acid with a molecular weight of 60000 was prepared in 10 h. The new procedure is much simple, cheap and outstanding in that the start material is aqueous lactic acid; the catalytic system is environmentally benign. Polylactic acid was synthesized from commer- cial available inexpensive aqueous lactic acid (85% -90% w / w) using succinic anhydride and SnCl2 · 2H2O as catalyst in the absence of organic solvents. As a result, polylactic acid with a molecular weight of 60000 was prepared in 10 h. The new procedure is much simple, cheap and outstanding in that the start material is aqueous lactic acid; the catalytic system is environmentally benign.