This study investigates the factors that affect the speed of executing cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CB M&A) by Chinese companies. Hypotheses on the speed of CB M&A by Chinese companies are developed based on the liabilities perspective of organizational ecology, resource-based theory, and the concept of experience. Research samples include 514 CB M&A deals of publicly traded Chinese companies covering the period from 2002 to 2015. Regression analysis results show that the speed of CB M&A by Chinese companies is not affected by the size of the company, but new firms, despite their liabilities, initiate CB M&A early. In terms of the resource-based view, a company’s proportion of intangible resources does not affect CB M&A speed, though the proportion of state-ownership has a significant negative effect, confirming that companies with more state-ownership act as China’s foreign policy executors. Among the experience factors, companies with more experience cooperating with foreign firms in the domestic market initiate CB M&A faster, but those with more domestic M&A experience start CB M&A later. This implies that companies with a lot of experience working with foreign firms are actively using that experience and knowledge in CB M&A.