**3. The new emerging market context**

Emerging markets have been the enduring raison d'être of MNCs. Having served as magnets for FDI over a prolonged period of time, these growth regions have provided MNCs with a spacious canvas to pursue their cross-border growth agendas. They offered new revenue sources and allowed MNCs to prolong the life cycle of their product segments. In return, MNCs transferred technologies, enhanced local leadership practices, created employment and upgraded China's ability to compete on the global stage. However, in the recent past, emerging markets have witnessed considerable upheaval and volatility. One manifestation of this new era has been an increasingly assertive presence by China in the global economic and geopolitical theatre. For MNCs it is helpful to understand the formative events, dynamics and risks that have given rise to these developments. Common definitions describe emerging markets as territories that feature accelerating expansion but meagre pay using elements of the free-market economy as key drivers for progress and growth [38]. This block includes the evolving economies of the Asian region, South America, the Arabian Peninsula, Africa and several post-Soviet states. One common denominator of these countries is an economy that is tightly directed by the state [39]. Emerging markets at large feature such a profile. Still, China is in a dominant position due to the country's market size and investment influx. As a matter of fact, China has attracted the 'lion's share' of FDI within the emerging market arena. Eight out of ten companies listed in the global Fortune 500 have set up operations in China [40]. Consequently, China has the utmost relevance for practicing managers of MNCs as well as academic researchers seeking to explore how economic actors interact and align with their environment [41].
