Investment Treaty Arbitration in Asia

Abstract

This chapter seeks to explore China’s approach to bilateral investment treaties and uses this to help consider its possible future strategy. In particular, the chapter considers the interaction of the growth and nature of China’s inward- and outward-bound foreign direct investment, with the protections provided in the BITs and the identity of counterparty states. As enthusiasm for investment treaties in the West stands at a crossroads—in the face of public antipathy in Europe to the draft TTIP treaty, and hostility from the Trump administration to investment treaties in general—there is maybe an opportunity for China to demonstrate leadership and cooperation to regional and global economic partners. This chapter first maps the evolution of the protections provided in China’s investment treaties, from the rudimentary protections in the early generation investment treaties to the wider-scale coverage in the more recent investment treaties. The chapter also reflects upon the extent to which China has succeeded in protecting its outbound investment, and the counter-balance of the protections granted to inbound investment. It considers (the relatively few) cases that have been brought under Chinese investment treaties and performs a statistical analysis of the protection of Chinese foreign direct investment stocks, by reference to competitor economies. Finally, this chapter looks at where China may focus its attentions next, particularly in the context of the Trump administration in the US and China’s investment priorities.