The effects of the modification conditions on the hydrogenation rate and the enantio-differentiating ability (e.d.a.) for the enantio-differentiating hydrogenation of methyl acetoacetate were studied over an (R, R)-tartaric acid-NaBr-in-situ-modified nickel catalyst. It was revealed that a tartaric acid modification increased the hydrogenation rate irrespective of the presence of the auxiliary modifier, NaBr. In the presence of the tartaric acid, NaBr would have two roles, i.e., Na+ activates the enantio-differentiating sites through the interaction with tartaric acid, and Br- deactivates both the enantio-differentiating sites and non-enantio-differentiating sites. The e.d.a. values and the hydrogenation rate would be determined by the combination of these effects of Na+ and Br-.