Abstract: A factor analysis is conducted on a dataset consisted of 31 foreign R&D institutions and 18 relevant indexes. The result shows that R&D capabilities of investors, R&D conditions of institutions, and local contributions are three key factors influencing the comprehensive performance of foreign R&D institutions. According to the overall scores of individual sample, 31 samples could be classified into five main types, that is, comprehensive strength-oriented, comprehensive potential-oriented, local contribution-oriented, institutions advantage-oriented, and investors advantage-oriented. The classification basically reflects the overall situation, merits and demerits of different institutions. Hopefully, the research could provide a theoretical basis and research paradigm for the establishment of foreign R&D institution classification management system in China.

Key words: foreign R&D institutions, classification, factor analysis