In order to investigate the mechanical behavior of normal cross-section of reinforced concrete（RC） columns strengthened by high-strength steel stranded wire meshes/ECC（HSME） under small eccentric compression， HSME strengthened RC columns， ECC strengthened RC column and unstrengthened RC column were prepared and tested under small eccentric compression. Results show that the overall performance of RC columns strengthened by HSME is improved significantly. Compared with the unstrengthened RC column， the cracking load， peaking load and ductility are increased by 100.0%-113.3%， 99.8%-108.0% and 75.9%-77.8% respectively. Under the same load， both the strain of ECC and the compressive strain of longitudinal reinforcement of HSME strengthened RC columns are smaller than those of ECC strengthened RC column. By contrast， RC columns strengthened by HSME have obvious advantages over the ECC strengthened RC column. Furthermore， the core concrete is effectively confined by the HSME reinforcement layer， which improves the damage distribution and failure pattern of RC columns and results in the significant improvements of the load-carrying capacity and ductility. During the whole loading process， the deformations of HSME reinforcement layer and original RC column concrete are coordinated and the cooperative working performance of them is satisfactory.