Research On The Dispute-settling Mechanism And China Countermeasures In CAFTA

On January 1st,2010, China and ASEAN established the free trade area which is the first free trade area developed by China after ten years and also the biggest one built by developing countries, and the establishment of it will greatly impact the politics, economy and cultures of our nation. With the increase of economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN, the dispute-settling mechanism in the free trade area is playing an increasingly important role. Therefore, the study of dispute-settling mechanism keeps abreast of the times, fits the special requirements of the development of ASEAN, and makes up for the shortcomings of the current dispute-settling mechanism.The article first introduces the current situation and studies about CAFTA, analyses the historical background and sources of law leading in the creation of the dispute-settling mechanism, and the main content of it in details. Afterwards, dispute-settling mechanism in CAFTA is studied and analyzed through the application of contrastive analysis over which dispute-settling mechanism in CAFTA is compared with its counterparts in WTO on consultation, meditation and conciliation, arbitration, prosecution, procedure execution, etc, and with dispute-settling mechanism in NAFTA on scope of applications of disputes, exclusive jurisdiction, subjects, use upon consultation, designation of arbitrator, establishment of arbitration organization, period of prosecution. Furthermore, the positives effects of the dispute-settling mechanism in CAFTA as well as its inadequacy are elaborated and propositions to its modification are set forth. The conclusion part of the article analyzes the five impacts of the dispute-settling mechanism to our national economy.The study on dispute-settling mechanism in CAFTA is a new subject without essays which have great application value. Through the research of this subject, we are striving to take advantage of this mechanism for protecting the legitimate rights and interests of our nation and providing beneficial reference to our economic intercourse with ASEAN. China-Japan-Korea Free Trade Area which is still in blueprint stage and China-Africa Six Free Trade Areas which is being built up could also draw on the suggestions put forward in this article.