With the continuous expansion of China’s outward direct investment in countries along the «Maritime Silk Road», the external environment faced by China’s outward direct investment has become increasingly complex. The impact of corruption and government quality has become more prominent. From 2014 to 2019, the corruption index and institutional distance had a significant impact on China’s outward direct investment in the ten ASEAN countries along the Maritime Silk Road and the quality of their governments. The complex situation presented by the cases of the ten ASEAN countries shows that it is difficult to fully analyze the relationship between government quality and direct investment by a single variable such as a corruption index or an institutional distance. It is necessary to introduce a comprehensive analy-sis of multiple factors, such as cultural distance, political stability, and bilateral rela-tions. In view of this, China should strengthen the «Maritime Silk Road» construction corruption risk assessment, create a risk control mechanism and provide more re-gional public products that contribute to sustainable economic development and trade cooperation between countries along the «Maritime Silk Road».