Chinese multinational companies are facing the double attack of the liability of foreignness and the liability of origin in their overseas operations. From the perspective of legitimacy, this paper analyzes the influence of the liability of foreignness and the liability of origin that Chinese multinational enterprises suffer in the host country on their performance. The article selects 111 Chinese multinational companies that carried out foreign direct investment from 2004 to 2017 as the research sample, and use stata 16.0 statistical software to perform regression analysis. The results show that the liability of foreignness and the liability of origin have a significant negative impact on firm performance. Geographical distance strengthens the negative impact of the liability of foreignness on firm performance, but has no moderating effect on the relationship between the liability of origin and corporate performance. R&D investment strengthens the negative impact of the liability of foreignness and the liability of origin on firm performance. This article has enlightenment for Chinese multinational corporations and other emerging economy countries to overcome the double attack of the liability of foreignness and the liability of origin and improve their competitiveness.