In recent years, there has been increasing argument for studying the business environment through a research design focused on international business. Given the importance of China and India to the global economy and the lack of studies on Chinese and Indian multinational companies (MNCs) operating in each other’s country, this paper aims to contribute by extending knowledge of the contextual factors that support or inhibit ventures, operations and growth of Chinese and Indian MNCs operating in each other’s country. Meaningful implications include: first, the ‘context’ becomes the subject of investigation, instead of being just one of the elements in the research design; and second, Chinese and Indian business environments are mapped and analysed with reference to multiple contextual dimensions (i.e. market context, institutional context and organisational context) and illustrate the impact of these factors on the functioning and performance of the subsidiaries of Chinese and Indian MNCs.