ZnO/SnO nanocomposites have been designed to enhance the band edge emission and suppress the defect emission of ZnO nanorods simultaneously. It is found that the intensity ratio between the band edge and defect emission can be improved by up to 4 orders of magnitude. The underlying mechanism is interpreted in terms of surface modification as well as carrier transfer from SnO nanoparticles to ZnO nanorods. Our approach is very useful for creating highly efficient optoelectronic devices.