Purpose Focusing on the corporate entrepreneurship in China's emerging economy, the purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of network capabilities on entrepreneurial orientation and business performance. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaires and statistical analysis are applied in this research. Findings Based on the survey of small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the north‐east of China, it is found that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has a positive effect on business performance, and network capabilities (NC) can significantly moderate relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and business performance. Originality/value This paper, theoretically, fills a gap by finding out how network capabilities impact the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and business performance in China's emerging economy; it enriches China's entrepreneurial theory, and, in the practical sense, pays attention to the development of network capabilities in the day‐to‐day running of SMEs, to further their competitive advantages in the continuous process of corporate entrepreneurship.
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