1 FEATURE ARTICLE Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. • DOI: 10.1002/tie.21629 Correspondence to: Dr. Xueli Huang, School of Management, RMIT University, 445 Swanston Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia, +61 3 9925 1648 (phone), +61 3 9925 5960 (fax), Charlie.huang@rmit.edu.au. By Xueli Huang Chi Renyong Chinese Private Firms’ Outward Foreign Direct Investment: Does Firm Ownership and Size Matter? This article investigates and explains the behaviors, motives, and characteristics of Chinese privately owned enterprises’ (POEs’) outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), and compares this with the behaviors, motives, and characteristics of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs), using the insti- tutional perspective and resources-based view. Through in-depth interviews with senior managers and an extensive secondary data analysis of Chinese POEs’ OFDI, we found that Chinese POEs are increasingly active in committing both market- and strategic asset–seeking OFDI due to the unfavor- able institutional environment they face in China and the different types of resources possessed. POEs cluster with their business partners or domestic peers for international market expansion and adopt several approaches to acquire strategic assets. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.