The China-EU BIT: The Emerging 'Global BIT 2.0'?

Columbia FDI Perspectives, No. 128, August 18, 2014

3 Pages Posted: 6 Jan 2017

See all articles by Wenhua Shan

Wenhua Shan

Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU)

Lu Wang

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Faculty of Law

Date Written: August 18, 2014

Abstract

Since China and the European Union (EU) announced their decision to negotiate a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) at the 14th China-EU Summit in February 2012, the two sides have engaged in two rounds of negotiations. If successful, it will be the first standalone EU BIT, a BIT between the world's largest developed economy and the world's largest developing economy, and will occupy a unique place in the history of BIT negotiations.

Although there are currently BIT arrangements between China and all but one EU member state, the China-EU BIT negotiations would involve far more work than simply consolidating or “[streamlining] the existing BITs between China and 26 EU Member States into a single and coherent text.” Indeed, it can be expected that both parties would seize this opportunity to update and upgrade their investment treaty arrangements, taking into account recent investment treaty practices in general and those of the two parties in particular, including their investment treaty/chapter negotiations with the United States. The most challenging and promising issues are likely to be market access and dispute resolution.

Keywords: China-EU BIT; 'Global BIT 2.0'; market access; dispute solution

JEL Classification: K33

Suggested Citation

Shan, Wenhua and Wang, Lu, The China-EU BIT: The Emerging 'Global BIT 2.0'? (August 18, 2014). Columbia FDI Perspectives, No. 128, August 18, 2014, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2893107

Wenhua Shan

Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU) ( email )

26 Xianning W Rd.
Xi'an Jiao Tong University
Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049
China

Lu Wang (Contact Author)

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Faculty of Law ( email )

Kensington
High St
Sydney, NSW 2052
Australia
+61(2)93856871 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.unsw.edu.au/profile/lu-wang

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