A China—US Bilateral Investment Treaty: A Template for a Multilateral Framework for Investment?

Abstracts

China is the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) host and home country among emerging markets, the United States among developed countries. As host countries, both seek to maintain policy space to pursue their own legitimate public policy objectives; as home countries, both seek to protect their investors' outward FDI. This study looks into the development of their bilateral investment treaties (BITs). The study found that Chinese BITs have become more protective of investors, US ones more respectful of host country interests. If agreement is reached between both, it would provide a template for future investment agreements.

Keywords:

• China
• United States
• FDI
• BITs
• multilateral framework

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karl P. Sauvant

Karl P. Sauvant ([email protected]) is Resident Senior Fellow at the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment (VCC), Columbia Law School/The Earth Institute, Columbia University and former VCC Founding Executive Director and Director of UNCTAD's Investment Division; Huiping Chen ([email protected]) is Professor of International Law at Xiamen University Law School (China). The authors wish to thank Mark Feldman, Anthea Roberts, Wesley Scholz, and Hailang Wang for their incisive comments and Jonathan Kallmer, Celine Levesque, Shunqi Ge, and Jinsong Yu for their very helpful peer reviews.

Huiping Chen

Karl P. Sauvant ([email protected]) is Resident Senior Fellow at the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment (VCC), Columbia Law School/The Earth Institute, Columbia University and former VCC Founding Executive Director and Director of UNCTAD's Investment Division; Huiping Chen ([email protected]) is Professor of International Law at Xiamen University Law School (China). The authors wish to thank Mark Feldman, Anthea Roberts, Wesley Scholz, and Hailang Wang for their incisive comments and Jonathan Kallmer, Celine Levesque, Shunqi Ge, and Jinsong Yu for their very helpful peer reviews.