Environmental Risks And Legal Countermeasures Of China's Enterprises' Overseas Investment Under The “One Belt One Road” Initiative

Since the “One Belt One Road” initiative was proposed,China has continuously increased its investment in the countries along the “One Belt One Road”.The investment fields are mostly in ecologically sensitive industries.Chinese overseas investment companies are facing great environmental risks.The types of environmental risks of Chinese companies' “One Belt One Road” overseas investments are mainly host country environmental regulatory risks,corporation behavior risks,and dispute litigation risks.The risks caused by environmental issues permeate the outward investment of the enterprises.For example,during the preparation of the overseas investment,the host country may use environmental issues to set up trade barriers causing investment access risks.During the operation stage of the overseas investment,Chinese enterprises are subject to the host country's investment regulations.Environmental problems caused by overseas investment can even cause litigation or international arbitration,can cause significant economic losses in investment projects and can even be put on hold,which can cause a significant waste of overseas investment resources.Therefore,in order to reduce the risks and improve the efficiency of the overseas investment,Chinese enterprises must pay attention to environmental issues in the countries along the “One Belt One Road”.There are various reasons for the problems of the overseas investment environment of Chinese enterprises.On the one hand,there is lack of legal rules and regulations on the overseas investment environment in China and insufficient supervision of overseas investment activities.On the other hand,there are huge differences in the legal,political,economic and environmental background of the host countries along the “One Belt One Road”.At the same time,there are also shortcomings in multinational enterprises themselves,which have caused the disadvantages of environmental protection issues in the overseas investment ofChinese enterprises.There are also certain problems in the provisions of international legal documents on environmental protection.When signing free trade agreements and bilateral investment agreements with the countries along the “One Belt One Road”,China should pay attention to environmental protection issues,add environmental protection clauses and prevent host countries from abusing “general exception” clauses.We must realize that to develop the economy in the long term,we must coordinate environmental issues.Therefore,in order to meet the requirements of ecological civilization,we should minimize the investment risks brought by environmental problems.We can start from the following aspects.In philosophy,we must adhere to sustainable development,which is fundamentally a legal issue.As for the domestic law,firstly,we should gain special legislation for the overseas investment environment issues and formulate unified management methods to regulate the environmental protection issues of the overseas investment.Secondly,we need to strengthen the home country government's environmental supervision,clearify management responsibility and pay attention to the environmental protection issues during the examination and approval of the overseas investment.Thirdly,establish an appeal mechanism for the overseas investment enterprises and collecting the complaint opinions of the host government and the public can timely assess the status of environmental problems of the overseas investment projects of the enterprises.Fourthly,we can supervise Chinese overseas investment enterprises through the implementation of environmental protection obligations mainly by the banks,insurance companies and stock exchanges.Fifthly,the overseas investment companies consciously perform environmental responsibilities including raising corporate ethical standards and improving labor protection and environmental governance in the host country.As to the international law,firstly,we should add environmental protection clauses when signing international treaties with the countries along the “One Belt One Road” including the bilateral investment agreements and free trade agreements.Secondly,we can establish an information exchange mechanism with international organizations.Information is the basis of making a decision.To solve the environmental protection problems of the overseas investment requires information support.Thirdly,strengthen the international joint lawenforcement of the “One Belt One Road” investment environment issues and create an international cooperation model for the sharing of environmental laws,regulations and policies of judicial enforcement and training platforms across the countries.Fourthly,form a diversified international environmental dispute resolution mechanism and flexibly use multiple dispute resolution methods such as mediation,negotiation,litigation and arbitration from the perspective of convenience,the interests of all parties and the cost of consumption.The environmental problems encountered by Chinese investment in the countries along the “One Belt One Road” are extremely complicated.Only by cooperating with the countries and enterprises together can the sustainable development of the “One Belt One Road” be guaranteed.