External publications

The political economy of Chinese investment treaties

Berger, Axel
External Publications (2019)

in: Ka Zeng (ed.), Handbook on the international political economy of China, Cheltenham/Northhampton: Elgar, 151-168

ISBN: 978-1-78643-505-7
Information

This chapter analyzes the political economy motives that explain the negotiation of Chinese international investment treaties and their design. It looks beyond the distribution of economic transactions such as the ratio of outward and inward foreign investments as the main explanation for the motives of China’s international investment policy. Surely, the Chinese government used investment treaties as tools to promote foreign investments. However, the design and strategic focus of Chinese investment treaties have been influenced by other motives as well, such as the promotion of diplomatic relations or the preservation of regulatory policy space. Furthermore, the chapter shows that the Chinese government does not develop and implement its investment treaty policy in isolation but does take into account developments at the international level that have an influence on the design of Chinese investment treaties.

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