The study compared the impact of research and development (R&D) investment on sales performance between top global R&D enterprises and Chinese large and medium-sized enterprises. R&D investment by global top R&D enterprises positively correlates with sales performance, contributing more than other capital and human resource investments. In contrast, R&D investment by Chinese enterprises has a lower impact on sales performance compared to human resource investment. The impact of R&D investment on sales performance varies across industries, being higher in high-tech industries and lower in low-tech industries.