China to enact 1st international investment dispute arbitration rules

China will implement its first international investment dispute arbitration rules from Oct. 1, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade announced in a news conference in Beijing on Sept. 19.

The rules are expected to provide institutional guarantees to help Chinese enterprises to solve their investment disputes with the host countries. The implementation of the rules represents China’s progress in improving its business environment.

International investment dispute arbitration is now the main means to settle disputes between investors and their host countries.

The rules are issued against the backdrop of the Belt and Road Initiative, and aim at protecting not only Chinese investors' legal interests abroad, but also foreign investors' interests in China, said Wang Chengjie, vice director of China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission.

The implementation of the rules will improve China's rights to a say in the development of the international investment legal institutions, Wang added.

He said the commission will actively encourage the enterprises to get familiar with the arbitration mechanism as soon as possible to raise their ability to respond to legal risks in investment disputes, so as to better serve the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The rules, which uphold the arbitration principles of flexibility, efficiency and economy, draws experience from international investment arbitration mechanisms, as well as Chinese characteristics, he noted.