Study On The Dispute Resolution Mechanism Of China’s Overseas Infrastructure Investment

The global infrastructure investment market is vast and infrastructure connectivity is a priority area of the "Belt and Road" construction.Against this background,the number and scale of China’s overseas infrastructure investment projects are increasing,and the number of disputes arising therefrom is also increasing.Therefore,it is necessary to study the existing mechanisms,problems and development paths of dispute resolution applicable to China’s overseas infrastructure investment.In addition to the introduction,this thesis is divided into four chapters as follows.The first chapter explains the basic connotation of overseas infrastructure investment,pointing out that the investment model with the trend of integrated development of investment,construction and operation,the main body of investment dominated by state-owned enterprises and the investment flow tilted to Asia and Africa are its main features.Based on the distinction between international commercial disputes and international investment disputes,we define China’s overseas infrastructure investment disputes based on a narrow understanding of international investment disputes.In addition,the current status of China’s overseas infrastructure investment dispute resolution is sorted out from practical cases,pointing out that the negotiation mechanism is still predominant and the mediation and arbitration mechanisms are less applicable.In the second chapter,the existing mechanisms applicable to China’s overseas infrastructure investment dispute resolution are sorted out from bilateral,regional and multilateral investment dispute resolution mechanisms respectively.It also points out that bilateral investment dispute settlement mechanisms have obvious differences in the scope of applicable disputes,investment protection standards and precedent procedures,thus leading to the problem of "fragmentation";regional investment dispute settlement mechanisms have the problem of limited coverage;multilateral investment dispute settlement mechanisms have certain institutional difficulties in both mediation and arbitration.There are also some institutional difficulties in the multilateral investment dispute settlement mechanism,both mediation and arbitration,and there are differences in the application to Chinese overseas infrastructure investment disputes,such as the determination of the investor status of state-owned enterprises,whether foreign engineering contracting is an investment,and the interpretation of the "expropriation compensation" clause.The resolution of these issues is subject to the improvement and development of the existing mechanism.The third chapter reviews the reform and development trends of international investment dispute settlement mechanisms at two levels,namely the strengthening of rigid mechanisms and the regularization of flexible mechanisms.Among them,the return of the domestic remedy mechanism of host countries and the judicialization of the international investment arbitration mechanism reflect the trend of strengthening the rigid mechanism;the treaty-based prevention mechanism,the refinement of the consultation mechanism and the institutionalization of the mediation mechanism reflect the trend of standardizing the flexible mechanism.Paying attention to and grasping the current reform and development trend of international investment dispute settlement mechanism can provide guidance and reference for the construction of infrastructure investment dispute settlement mechanism of "One Belt,One Road".Based on the analysis of the necessity and feasibility of constructing the infrastructure investment dispute settlement mechanism of "One Belt,One Road",Chapter 4 establishes the principles of fairness and reasonableness,mutual consultation and sharing,flexibility and efficiency,and parallel mechanisms of rigidity and flexibility as the value orientation for the mechanism construction.Based on the reform and development trend of international investment dispute settlement mechanism,and taking into account the characteristics of China’s overseas infrastructure investment disputes,we propose to build a specialized and diversified overseas infrastructure investment dispute settlement mechanism.In this diversified mechanism,attempts are made to introduce an investment dispute prevention mechanism,strengthen the procedural provisions of the consultation mechanism,enhance the application of the mediation mechanism,weaken the local relief mechanism of the host country,and appropriately innovate the investment arbitration mechanism through the appropriate application of the expedited arbitration mechanism,the improvement of the transparency rules,and the establishment of the appeals committee system.