This article takes 2009~2016 China A-share high-tech listed companies as the research object, and explores the impact and mechanism of absorptive capacity on the relationship between the breadth and intensity of corporate R&D internationalization and innovation performance. The regression results show that the breadth and intensity of R&D internationalization have an inverted “U” relationship with corporate innovation performance. Among them, absorptive capacity plays a positive role in regulating the breadth and intensity of R&D internationalization and corporate innovation performance. The implications of this article is that the relationship between the degree of internationalization of R&D and the performance of innovation is limited by many factors, which can improve the performance of innovation in a reasonable range, but if a certain threshold is exceeded, the internationalization of R&D will reduce the performance of innovation. The conclusion of this paper provides suggestions for the rational layout of the global network of R&D institutions of multinational enterprises and the formulation of policies by government departments.