Under the constraints of resources and environment, China is eager to cultivate a new industrial system with ecological characteristics in light of local circumstances. This paper selects the innovation ecosystem of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles in Sichuan, China as the objective of the case study to explore its cultivation and characteristics. The theoretical significance lies in three areas. Firstly, the cultivation path of the CNG vehicle innovation ecosystem is manifested. Secondly, the symbiotic process model among the communities within the CNG vehicle innovation ecosystem is found. Thirdly, the substitutive process model of the CNG vehicle innovation ecosystem is discovered, which reveals the substitutability among innovation ecosystems, the communities of similar products, and the enterprises of similar products. This paper is of theoretical, practical, and political significance for the development of a CNG vehicle innovation ecosystem in emerging markets in terms of regional energy security and emission reduction.

This paper aims to take the longitudinal development history of the Lenovo Cross-border complex nested R&D organization as the research object, to explore the development rules of enterprise niche. Strategic positioning is the core issue of enterprise management, and enterprise niche is the core issue of strategic positioning. This study elaborates on the three stages of enterprise R&D organizational ambidexterity promoting enterprise niche evolution, discusses the process model of space development, and reveals the life cycle of enterprise niche. It reveals the deep reason for promoting enterprise niche to develop—the ambidexterity of complex nested organization. The conclusion helps to promote the successful space development of enterprise niches through Cross-border merger and acquisition, and to enhance global sustainable development for the companies from emerging markets such as China.

Strategic positioning is the core issue of strategic management, and regional niche is the core of strategic positioning. Regional niche has important implications in sustainability transition. In this study, the regional niche and spatial distribution of foreign investment in 31 provinces of China from 2012 to 2021 are explored regarding sustainability transition. The results show that: (1) Low fierce competition is important for foreign-investment resources in sustainability transition in general. (2) The gradient of niche-evolution momentum is considerable in sustainability transformation. (3) The spatial echelon distribution of foreign investment is obvious in sustainability transition with a positive spatial-geography correlation. Therefore, in view of the overall space–time development and political layout of foreign investment in emerging industrialized countries such as China in the future, this study has important practical significance. It proposes countermeasures for policy-makers and managers to promote the expansion, evolution, and coordination of foreign investment in regional resources. The conclusion is helpful for China and other emerging industrial countries to successfully realize the space–time layout of regional niche, through foreign investment, and improve their open capabilities of global sustainable development.