A Construction Study On The Settlement Mechanism Of Investment Disputes Between Countries In The Belt And Road Initiative

With the proposal and practice of ‘The Belt and Road' initiative,cross-border investment between countries along the track becomes frequent.Countries,along ‘The Belt and Road',are in charge of different resources,their economic development is in different stages,and the industrial structure is more complementary with each other,which provide a favorable opportunity for China to expand our foreign investment and deepen regional division of labor and cooperation.Due to the differences of history,politics,economy and cultural systems in different countries,it is inevitable to cause disputes between countries and their investors in the process of investment cooperation.Under ‘The Belt and Road',the international investment disputes between countries are different from the general international investment disputes.Countries along the route have not signed all the countries to join the WTO or the ICSID.There is neither a political and economic community like the European Union nor a long-term and stable multilateral free trade agreement reached among them.At present,the investment dispute between countries along ‘The Belt and Road' still normally relies on political settlement(consultation and mediation,diplomatic protection),judicial settlement(domestic judicial relief,International Court relief)and arbitration settlement mechanism,mainly for ICSID or WTO arbitration,seeking host country's local relief,signing bilateral and multilateral investment treaties and other ways.However,there are still some problems in the existing investment dispute settlement mechanism,such as incomplete coverage,high cost of arbitration and litigation,jurisdiction conflict,lack of appeal mechanism,lack of transparency and inconsistent award results,which are not satisfied with the requirements of ‘The Belt and Road' initiative,and it is not conducive to steadily promoting the cooperation and development of ‘The Belt and Road' among countries.Thus,to form the investment dispute settlement mechanism of ‘The Belt and Road' is imperative.As the formal member of the WTO and the initiator of ‘The Belt and Road' initiative,China established the international commercial court,signed and joined the Singapore Convention on mediation,laying foundation for forming the international investment dispute settlement mechanism of ‘The Belt and Road' for China.Based on the insistence of ‘Principle of interest balance',‘Principle of sustainable development' and ‘Principle of diversified measures',through comparative study and drawing on the relevant experience from WTO,ICSID,NAFTA/USMCA and the European Union Investment court dispute settlement mechanism,relying on the International Commercial Court and with the cooperation of other institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to establish one special center of ‘The Belt and Road' investment dispute settlement,and it is expected to formulate effective prevention,negotiation,mediation,arbitration,litigation,appeals,enforcement and other specific procedures,and improve bilateral and multilateral treaties for the settlement of investment disputes between countries along ‘The Belt and Road' to construct a An investment dispute settlement mechanism between countries that effectively resolves disputes.