Government intervention has been always regarded as an important force in promoting and encouraging outside foreign direct investment (OFDI), but is it so in fact? Do governments selectively affect OFDI? From a perspective of institutional theory, this paper examines the various influences of government intervention on OFDI based on the data of A-share non-finance listed companies from 2003 to 2013 in China.It arrives at the conclusions as follows:firstly, government infervention has a negative influence on the behavior and quantity of OFDI, that is, it is more impossible for enterprises with higher-degree government infervention to do OFDI and they have lower amount of OFDI; secondly, the governments promote the OFDI of companies which have more marketing resources and the increase in investment amount, that is, in enterprises with rich marketing resources, government intervention has a stronger positive effect on OFDI; thirdly, government infervention has a significantly positive effect on the performance of OFDI; fourthly, governments affect enterprises' OFDI decision by controlling enterprise decision-makers and approving investment application.It has useful implications for corresponding OFDI policy formulation and how to respond the going-out strategy for enterprises.