With the practice of high-standard new rules of international investment, the external environment for Chinese enterprises to acquire external technologies through overseas investment to rapidly improve their innovation ability is particularly severe. Using the microcosmic data of listed companies from 2007 to 2016, this paper investigates the influence of new rules of international investment on the innovation ability of Chinese enterprises. The results show that the implementation of the new rules of international investment has significantly inhibited the innovation ability of enterprises. The ownership of enterprises affects the effect of the new rules of international investment on the innovation ability of enterprises. Compared with private enterprises, the new rules have a greater negative impact on the innovation ability of state-owned outward investment enterprises. Meanwhile, the new rules of international investment have a heterogeneous effect on the innovation ability of enterprises in different investment industries. Compared with other industries, the new rules of international investment are more adverse to the development of the innovation ability of enterprises in manufacturing industry.