The paper examines the location choice of overseas R&D investment on a provincial scale in China.An empirical study on the location factors that effect overseas R&D investment is made with the data of overseas R&D expenditure in Chinese provinces and cities in 2000.The results show that the factual FDI flow,market scale,human capital and intellectual property protection of provinces are the decisive factors for overseas R&D investment,the level of basal communication establishment and trade circumstance are also have positive relation with overseas R&D investment,while wage has not distinct effect.By the empirical analysis,our results can be applied by provinces and areas as a theoretic foundation to attract overseas R&D investment effectively.