China as An Acceptor of, User of and Contributor to the Investment Treaty Regime

Abstract

The International Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID Convention) entered into effect in October 1966 and gave rise to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The aim of the ICSID Convention was to provide facilities for the settlement of investor–State disputes, including arbitration. The Convention facilitated the direct use of international means by foreign investors that was hardly available under traditional international law. It was assumed that the ICSID mechanism would increase the confidence of foreign investors, mainly those from developed States, about the investment climate of host States, developing States in particular, and further promote the flow of private investment to benefit the economic development of States. In February 1990, about 25 years after the coming into force of the ICSID Convention, China signed that Convention and it came into force in China in February 1993. China signed its first bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with Sweden in 1982, 10 years before joining the ICSID Convention.