China's success in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in the last decade is undisputed, and unprecedented. It is currently the second largest FDI recipient in the world, a success partially due to China's efforts to enter into bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and other international investment instruments. The second title to publish in the new Oxford International Arbitration Series is a comprehensive commentary on Chinese BITs.
Chinese investment treaties have typically provided international forums for settling investment disputes such as the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Given the continuous growth of FDI in China, the emergence of state-investor disagreements in China and the dramatic rise of investment treaty based arbitrations world wide in recent years, it is anticipated that there will be an increasing number of investment arbitrations involving the central and local governments of China. This book will provide a detailed review and analysis of China's approach to foreign investment. It will consider the current role of investment treaties in China's foreign economic policy, analyze and interpret the key provisions of the BITs, and discuss the future agenda of China's investment program. It will look at how this investment regime interconnects with the domestic system and consider the implications for a foreign investor in China.