A Study Of Fair And Equitable Treatment Clauses In The RCEP Agreement

As the largest free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region,RCEP agreement has greatly promoted the vigorous development of regional international investment activities.The text of the RCEP agreement guarantees the smooth progress of international investment activities by stipulating the fair and equitable treatment clause,which links fair and equitable treatment with the minimum standard of customary international law for foreigners,and restricts it with no refusal of justice as an element,in order to solve the application drawbacks of the traditional fair and equitable treatment clauses.However,the context is easy to lead to the unclear connotation of the clauses and the confusion of the scope of its application,and it is difficult to achieve a balance of interests between foreign investors and investment host countries.Therefore,it is necessary to study other international investment agreements and international arbitration practices to seek a better interpretation and limitation of the fair and equitable treatment clause in the RCEP agreement,so as to ensure the long-term development of international investment activities in the Asia-Pacific region.The first part of this paper will briefly introduced the basic content of the fair and equitable treatment clause,including the origin and evolution of the clause,as well as the similarities and differences with other investment treatment clauses,in order to explore the connotation and essence of the fair and equitable treatment clause.The second part will analyzed the specific provisions on the fair and equitable treatment clause in the agreement,to find out the three major problems of the fair and equitable treatment clause,that is the direct connection with the minimum standard of treatment of foreigners in customary international law leading to the vague meaning of the clause,the requirement not to deny wrongful justice increasing the obligations of the host state and the existing enumeration model cannot effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors,which leads to the core issue of this paper.The third part started from the two aspects of treaty practice and arbitration practice,through comparing and analyzing some provisions on fair and equitable treatment of CPTTP and CETA to explore the advantages and disadvantages of the provisions of the RCEP agreement,and analyzing the relevant typical international arbitration cases concerning the non-rejection of justice to provide benefits for the future arbitration practice of the RCEP agreement.The fourth part put forward three feasible suggestions to more reasonably limit the fair and equitable treatment clause in the RCEP agreement,by maintaining the independence of the fair and equitable treatment clause,increasing the elements and achieving balance of closed enumeration in the clause to solve the above-mentioned difficulties in the application of the clause in the way of the interests of the host country and the investor,so as to promote the clause to give full play to its role in safeguarding international investment.As the largest mutually beneficial free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region,the RCEP agreement requires a balance of interests between foreign investors and investment host countries.Therefore,it is necessary to reasonably limit the terms of fair and equitable treatment to give full play to its guarantee role,in order to promote the further development of free trade in the Asia-Pacific region,provide new opportunities and make new contributions for the growth of the world economy.