Multilateral Rules on Investment: Is Forward Movement Possible?

This paper explores the forces that have to date impeded thedevelopment of a multilateral set of rules on investment. Thepaper chronicles the policy- and rule-making debates that tookplace in the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s)Working Group on Trade and Investment (WGTI) and advances anumber of political economy reasons that contributed to thederailment of investment discussions under the Doha DevelopmentAgenda (DDA). The paper highlights elements of a development-friendlyinternational investment regime and identifies various scenariosfor imparting forward movement to international negotiationson investment issues at the bilateral, regional and multilaterallevels.     

The ASEAN-China Investment Agreement: A regionalization of China��s BITs

This paper analyzes the provisions of the Agreement on Investment of the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (the “ASEAN”), especially those on the scope of application, national treatment, Most Favored Nation (MFN) treatment, expropriation, and investor-state dispute resolution. The paper then compares the new agreement with other international investment agreements concluded by China or ASEAN. In comparison with existing Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) between China and individual ASEAN member states, there are significant changes in the Investment Agreement which provides a higher standard of investment protection. Such an investment protection is common in the new generation of Chinese BITs, which were signed by China since 2000. However, unlike some other investment agreements in free trade arrangements, the Investment Agreement rarely touches upon the investment liberalization, although the Framework Agreement of ASEAN-China FTA provides for creating a liberal investment regime. This paper concludes that negotiating an investment agreement in China’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) is regarded as an opportunity to update its old BITs, but China is not yet prepared to undertake investment liberalization in its FTAs. The ASEAN-China Investment Agreement is, rather, an extension of China’s BITs at the regional level, which is a demonstration of China’s growing influence at this level.     

Research on Risks of China＇s Enterprises＇ Utilizing Foreign Direct Investment - Taking the Failure of Investment Invitation of Bearing Factory in Northwestern China as an Example

利用外资（FDI）并不总能实现理想化的互利共赢局面,这一点在学界研究中国利用外资三十多年的具体实践中已经得到印证。利用外国直接投资设立合资企业的风险表现为合资企业运营过程中特别是合资企业转变为独资企业时对中方投资主体的权益可能造成的影响。在国家进一步优化外商投资环境,吸引外资的背景下,如何维护中方投资主体在合资企业中的合法权益,是值得深入研究的问题。     

Is “Contribution to the Host States Development” An Essential Criterion to Define Investment Under International Investment Law?: A Search Through the Lens of Arbitral Awards

Liverpool Law Review - International Investment Arbitration proceedings often deliver its Award in two parts: (i) Jurisdiction and (ii) Merit. One of the most debated and controversial elements in...     

Retrospection and Perspective of Foreign Investment Legislation in China (1979–2009)

Thirty years have passed for foreign investment legislation in China since the promulgation of the first foreign investment law in 1979. The remarkable achievements in the past 30 years under the China’s reform and open policy have benefited from introduction of foreign investment to a large extent as the result of foreign investment legislation and its changes. This paper starts with a retrospection of foreign investment legislation in China since 1979, followed by a discussion on the features and motives of changes in such legislation, and makes conclusions on the experience and lessons from the legislation, which will be conducive to further improvement of foreign investment legislation in China.     

Fair and Equitable Treatment and Investor’s Due Diligence Under International Investment Law

Netherlands International Law Review - The investor’s due diligence has become a significant factor in determining whether the legitimate expectations of an investor give rise to protection...     

No More Negotiated Deals?: Settlement of Trade and Investment Disputes in East Asia

Many argue that East Asian countries have come to adopt ‘aggressivelegalism’ in trade and investment policy, in the sensethat they have come to settle their trade and investment disputesthrough the dispute settlement mechanism (DSM) of the WTO andthe other third-party procedures. Scrutiny of the dispute casesof these countries shows, however, that East Asian legalismis not so aggressive, that it varies country by country, andthat there still exists room for negotiated deals in settlingtrade and investment disputes among them. On the other hand,the recent move toward regional integration through free tradeagreements (FTAs), economic partnership agreements (EPAs), andbilateral investment treaties (BITs) in East Asia may lead tothe adoption of a more aggressive legalism in the region, inparticular in settling investment disputes, disputes relatingto intellectual property rights, and trade remedies.     

Investment sensitivity to interest rates in an uncertain context: is a positive relationship possible?

This paper shows a non-linear relationship between investment and interest rates under uncertainty. Since the interest rate’s variance is positively related to the investment’s value (through the discount factor) and, generally, is also positively related to the interest rate’s level, then, at the same time, a negative (classical) and a positive (through the interest rate’s variance) relationship links interest rates to investment. Hence, an ultimate and even positive relationship between investment and interest rates’ (expected) level may occur. A specific model is proposed and the conditions upon which the positive effect occurs are derived. Some estimates are also proposed.

Big Investment Fraud and “Yakuza Money” Crime — Two Perspectives of Financial Crime in Japan

Financial crime in Japan takes a major toll on both individual victims and the nation’s economy. This paper focuses on large investment frauds that have occurred from post-war Japan to the present as well as financial crimes that involve racketeers of boryokudans, or organized crime groups, more commonly known as yakuza. Major financial offending by organized crime groups include: yamikin (loan sharks), sokaiya (shareholders who extort corporate funds), jiageya (“land sharks” who frighten tenants into vacating properties), and new forms of yakuza money crime that constitute significant challenges to enforcement. The paper concludes that more comprehensive legislation that applies to all forms of investment fraud is needed in order to stem the tide of white-collar crime in Japanese society.     

理解巨型项目发展中的政治——评Mega-projects:The Changing Politics of Urban Public Investment

Altshuler,Alan&Luberoff,David(2003).Mega-Projects:The Changing Politics of Urban Public Investment.Washington,D.C.:Brookings Institution Press.339 PP.对中国城市的关注,我们还停留在一些传统的或学科界限分明的阶段,以至于我们对很多重要的城市议题的研究并不深入和全面。巨型项目这一重要的城市议题就是如此。在我们的传统理解中,巨型项目是城市规划或建筑等领域     

Convergence in Transition Countries – Focus on Investment: Central and Eastern Europe, 1970–1996

Our data on investment in Central and Eastern European economies reveal that, though investment rates were typically high in the 1970s, the marginal efficiency of investment was low. Investment shares begun to decline in the 1980s, before the collapse of the communist system, but there was some recovery in most countries after transition. We use the Kalman filter framework to test for convergence in investment rates. We find some evidence of convergence in Central European countries – former Czechoslovakia, Poland and the countries of the former Yugoslavia. For the remainder of the socialist bloc, however, we were unable to isolate convergence in investment shares.     

Editorial introduction to the China–EU Law Journal special issue on the EU–China Investment Treaty in Interdisciplinary Perspective

China-EU Law Journal -     

Gender Equality in China’s Overseas Investment: Case Studies on Chinese Textile and Apparel Enterprises in Vietnam,Myanmar, and Bangladesh

With the progressive implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese textile and apparel sector has extended investments in many Southeast Asian countries, of which Vietnam, Myanmar, and Bangladesh are the most prominent examples. Furthermore, the impacts of Chinese-invested textile and apparel companies on local female workers have become more important and pervasive. This paper uses data accumulated in a survey project conducted in 20 Chinese-invested textile and apparel enterprises to present the on-site situation of gender equality performance in Chinese textile and apparel investment in these three countries. It finds that, despite quick progress and sporadic good practice, Chinese textile and apparel enterprises face challenges in gender equality at both the policy and practice levels. It concludes that gender equality is critical for China’s responsible overseas investment and local social development, and Chinese enterprises must go beyond legal compliance in dealing with gender equality. In so doing, they must realize that awareness raising and gender-sensitive management mechanisms must be the core and long-term measures to address gender equality challenges.     

境内机构违反规定对外提供担保的法律适用——星花投资服务有限公司（Starflower Investment Services LTD）与杭州金马房地产有限公司等债务及担保合同纠纷上诉案

对于境内机构未经审批对外提供担保，并在合同中选择适用域外法的情形．因我国现行冲突法并没有规定对外担保合同只能适用我国法律，不应以法律规避为由否定域外法的适用。在我国有关法规及司法解释已经明确规定境内机构未经审批对外提供担保的行为无效的情况下，应该依据直接适用法理论，在准确理解相关法规及司法解释之意旨的条件下，相应限制域外法的适用范围，而不是援引公共秩序保留制度否定域外法的适用。