Based on agency theory, this study first established the relationship between CEO duality and the choice of partial acquisition. Putting agency theory, resource-based view and institutional theory together, this study further examined how some firm and institutional factors moderate this relationship. Using secondary data collected from firms listed in the two stock exchanges in China mainland, we find duality CEOs prefer partial acquisition over the other FDI entry modes, and this preference may be changed by firm resources, such as firm size and firm international experience, and institutional factors, such as formal institutional distance.