Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.9, 2015

The Reconstruction of Investment Rules in International Trade and the Chinese Response

(Abstract)

Shi Jingxia

The reconstruction of investment rules in international trade is developing rapidly in an unprecedented manner and through unprecedented routes. Bilateral, regional and plurilateral negotiations have become an important platform for the formation of new rules. In terms of substantive content, the new generation of rules has a wider scope and higher standards, reflecting developed countries’ new requirements for global value chain production. In global economic and trade governance, China should grow step by step from being a passively responding rule-taker to becoming an actively participating rule-maker, playing a positive role in the formulation of new rules and boosting the progress of trade and investment liberalization. In conjunction with international experience and domestic requirements, there are two important elements in the preconditions for Chinese participation in rule formation and gradual assumption of a leading role: domestically, we need to further deepen domestic reform through such critical measures as the implementation of the free trade zone strategy and the unification of domestic and foreign investment laws; and internationally, we need to actively participate in multilateral, bilateral, regional and plurilateral negotiations, give priority to trade in services and investment rules, and pay close attention to new items on the agenda, thus realizing the virtuous interaction of the domestic rule of law and international rules.