In the face of unprecedented changes in the world, international economic uncertainty has increased sharply. This study attempts to explore how Chinese enterprises can implement the “ go global” strategy with high quality under the new development pattern, which plays a crucial role in strengthening the linkage effect between domestic and international markets and resources. This study utilizes machine learning techniques to create economic uncertainty indices for various countries and regions. Through text analysis methods, we illustrate the international economic risk exposure associated with enterprise export business. This study attempts to leverage the level of risk that individual enterprises face due to international economic uncertainty and its impact on cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) decision-making. The findings suggest that firms with higher exposure to international economic uncertainty are more likely to engage in cross-border M&A. The heterogeneity analyses indicate that risk-hedging expectations and technology-seeking motives may be driving factors behind this trend. Further economic consequence analysis indicates that cross-border M&As driven by international economic uncertainty contribute to improving firm valuation and total factor productivity, promoting the development of new quality productivity. This, in turn, can support firms to achieve high quality development through the combination and interaction of domestic and international cycles at a higher level.