Today, one of the most discussed tasks of economics is the choice of a development model based on the availability of resources and overcoming dependence on them. Finding the best balance between resource and non-resource factors, identifying the most effective scale and forms of interaction between economic sectors is one of the fundamental problems facing economists. This article systematizes the main approaches to the concept of the category “value chain”, reveals the essence of the concept of “value creation system”, and reflects the conceptual approaches and theoretical concepts of the modern dynamically developing value chain. In the course of the analysis of domestic and foreign literary sources on the topic, a theoretical and practical essence is considered, the prerequisites for the emergence and stages of evolution are identified. Benefits and risks for firms and the state from participation in global value chains are formulated and opportunities for increasing their efficiency are shown, the impact of companies' participation in global value chains on a country's economic development is considered, and conditions for increasing the positive effects of GCC on the economy are formulated.