A high resolution vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) beamline covering 5~40 eV photon energy range for study of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is constructed newly at the National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (NSRL). There are three pieces of gratings, with groove densities of 300, 600 and 1200 line/mm respectively in the spherical grating monochromator (SGM). The laminar grating with groove density of 1200 line/mm, duty cycle of 0.35, groove depth of 35 nm, and active area larger than 120 mm×20 mm is fabricated using holographic-ion beam etching on silicon substrate. The spectral calibration and performance test are performed during the ARPES beamline early adjustment and test. The undulator radiation is used directly as light source for the wavelength calibration and spectroscopic test, and absorption peaks of known gas as a standard for calibration. The results show that the energy resolution can reach 2.6 meV around 29.2 eV in absorption spectrum of Ar using 1200 line/mm grating and slit opening of 30 μm, namely energy resolving power of 11000, which meets the demand of design specifications.