<p>Foreign-funded overseas industrial parks (OIPs) are crucial for attracting foreign investment and promoting globalization in developing countries. However, large-scale land acquisition for these parks generates conflicts between developers and local stakeholders, increasing development costs. A qualitative multicase study was conducted in this study to analyze the land transaction trajectories of China’s OIPs. Four OIPs were selected to reveal the underlying mechanisms from the perspectives of institutional arrangements, governance mechanisms, and enterprise heterogeneity. The findings indicate that in host countries with insufficient institutional development, local governments are more inclined to directly engage in OIP land acquisition. High-level intergovernmental mechanisms facilitate land acquisition processes, although their efficacy depends largely on administrative power allocation across parks in host countries. The results also indicate that enterprise characteristics significantly influence land acquisition, where microscale private enterprises lacking political connections often employ low-cost, bottom-up strategies by leveraging international experience. In summary, policy-makers in developing countries should prioritize enhancing OIP governance to mitigate transaction costs, promote diversified land supply, and optimize land allocation. By depicting China’s OIP land acquisition processes, this study deepens the academic understanding of OIP governance in developing countries and related international land transactions, offering practical OIP management insights for governments in both host and parent countries.</p>