Lanthanum doped nano-ZnO (La3+-ZnO) was firstly prepared and dispersed into PVA sol to produce packaging composite films by solution pouring method, and its preservation performances for strawberry and agaricus blazei were investigated. Characterizations of La3+-ZnO were done by XRD, TEM and LPSA. The distortion occurred in lattice of ZnO with the particle size reduced, surface energy increased and dispersibility improved, all caused by doping with La3+. Barrier performance of the composite films was improved by adding La3+-ZnO, and it was revealed that the composite films obtained the optimal barrier performance with mass fraction of La3+-ZnO being 1.2%. The water vapor permeability and oxygen permeability were decreased by 42.7% and 35.6% respectively. Utilization range of spectrum for ZnO was widened by lanthanum doping, so that the antibacterial rate of the composite films against E. coli. and S. aureus reached 96.9% and 99.3% respectively in natural light. The strawberries were well preserved for 10 d at room temperature with the composite film, while the rotted rate and weight loss rate were both controlled below 5%. The shelf life of agaricus blazei was also extended from 2 d to 5 d at room temperature, since the composite films slowed down the browning, autolysis and other phenomena during the storage of agaricus blazei.