China and the Investment Treaty Regime

Abstract

Since its first bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with Sweden in 1982, China has signed BITs with more than 130 countries. In the earlier stage, China's BITs mainly follow the template or style as set by western countries. Yet with the development of economic growth, China is more willing to establish its own discourse. The Belt and Road Initiative, and the separate BIT negotiations with the US and the EU, reveal China’s proactive approach to participate in global economic governance. The experience in dealing with the cases filed by foreign investors against China has also enabled China to review its BIT policy and practice. Against this background, this chapter presents a stocktake of China’s practice in international investment law, and tries to find whether China could establish its discourse in this regime. By revealing the approach of utilitarianism and flexibility that underpins China’s BITs negotiations, it concludes that China is not simply copying or adopting in a wholesale manner the treaty texts presented by the EU or the US, but is making the necessary adjustments to craft agreements that take into account its own political system and economic realities.