Abstract: The international social ventures are the main force to solve current global social problems, and value co-creation is the core logic embedded in the process of international social entrepreneurship. Based on the perspective of social network and through a profound case-study on BYD, this paper discusses the value co-creation mechanism of international social entrepreneurship from the three levels of social network and the three stages of value co-creation. The research findings are as follows:(1) The formation of government networks, market networks, and technological networks are the prerequisites for realizing the value co-creation of international social entrepreneurship, and the elements in the multi-network are the factors that form the main dimensions of each stage of value co-creation; (2) In the value co-creation process of international social entrepreneurship, the conceptional consensus stage includes decision consensus, seeking market consensus and technical consensus, the value symbiosis stage includes co-building a business environment, seeking common market development and jointly researching and developing new products, and the value sharing stage includes balancing, and aligning the interests between public and private sectors, and thereby sustaining mutual benefits; (3) The logical integration of each stage dimension of value co-creation enables enterprises and stakeholders to establish a strong relationship network whereby alliance being shared, and forms a value co-creation mechanism, so as to solve international social problems in a more efficient way. This paper not only advances the interdisciplinary research of international social entrepreneurship and social network theory, but also enriches the research context of international social entrepreneurship and expands the theoretical research of value co-creation process. The research conclusions have practical guiding significance for enterprises to learn how to build social networks in international social entrepreneurship and how to achieve the goal of value co-creation with stakeholders.

Key words: international social entrepreneurship, value co-creation, social network, case study