Based on Chinese A-share listing firms’ R&D sample and the OLS regression of pooled data, the nonlinear relationship between R&D investment intensity and firm’s listing age is empirically examined in the perspective of corporate life cycle. The result of full sample regression shows that the listing age has a significant negative impact on R&D intensity. The results of sub sample regression indicate that young firms’ R&D intensity has characteristics of "inverted U-shaped", called the innovation recession effect, which is more obvious in the emerging industries. The aging firms’ R&D intensity is "U-shaped", called the transformation effect, which is more significant in traditional industries and small and medium enterprises.