THE CHANGE OF ROLE OF CHINESE DOMESTIC ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES IN INVESTOR-STATE DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

Abstract

The on going crisis of investor-State dispute settlement (“ISDS”) regime has made many counties pay more attention to investment disputes management and prevention. As agencies of State, administrative agencies play important roles in managing and preventing investment disputes. In China, the roles of administrative agencies are gradually changing from adjudicators to negotiators to better manage and de-escalate investment disputes. Such trend is demonstrated by the dropping of administrative review clauses in China’s recent investment treaty-drafting and the establishment of foreign investment complaint mechanism in its national legislation. Focusing on the changing roles of administrative agencies in investor-State disputes settlement involving China, this paper analyzes the merits and improvements of the changed role of administrative agencies in investor-State dispute management, offers views on the backgrounds and motivations of the change, and last, elaborates its implications to the current ISDS reform.