By virtue of the specialization of its main business, the refinement of its management and operation, the specialization of its products and services, and the novelty of its innovative efficiency, the “new, distinctive, specialized and sophisticated” SMEs (hereinafter referred to as “NDSS” SMEs) have become the core subject of optimizing the modern industrial system, improving the basic research ability, building an innovative development pattern, and promoting high-quality economic development. The high-quality development of “NDSS” SMES is an effective way to construct a powerful manufacturing country, a high-energy way to build employment security, and a key measure to stimulate enterprise vitality, which is conducive to improving the efficiency of enterprise resource utilization, realizing the engine replacement of economic growth, and promoting the changes of quality, efficiency and momentum.

Based on the number of “NDSS” SMEs cultivated in 31 provinces of China , from the perspective of business environment, the QCA method is used to deconstruct the regional differences and complex causal mechanisms that support the development of “NDSS” SMEs. The results show that: (1) The five specific elements covered by the business environment cannot constitute the necessary conditions for “NDSS” SME cultivation alone. (2) There are two collaborative driving paths to cultivate the high efficiency of “NDSS” SMEs. (3) There are two driving paths to cultivate the non-high efficiency of “NDSS” SMEs, and there is an asymmetric relationship with the driving mechanism of cultivating high efficiency. (4) A good humanistic environment has a relatively common impact on the high efficiency of “NDSS” SME cultivation. (5) The various elements of business environment need to be combined with appropriate configurations to truly play the synergistic field effect.

On the one hand, this paper reveals the black box of “NDSS” SME cultivation in a more detailed and accurate manner. On the other hand, starting from the phenomenon, this paper analyzes the configuration reasons of “NDSS” SME cultivation according to the logic of tracing, and whether the single antecedent of business environment constitutes the bottleneck of “NDSS” SME cultivation, providing more detailed and accurate guidance for the efficiency of “NDSS” SME cultivation. At the same time, relevant departments should not only focus on the limited advantageous resources to select the driving path suitable for the region, optimize the key elements of business environment, and promote the high efficiency of “NDSS” SME cultivation; but also provide a good cultural environment for the transformation and upgrading of “NDSS” SMEs by building a sharing platform and improving the open mechanism, and strengthening social credit investigation and standardizing the punishment on dishonesty.