China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone investor-state dispute settlement : an uncertain experiment

Villalta Puig, Gonzalo; Tsam Tai, Sabrina Leung

Abstract

The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (PFTZ) is the first free trade zone of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It seeks to reform the national economy and open it up to foreign investment. This article argues that the suite of legal instruments that establish the PFTZ – the Framework Plan, the Negative List, the Decision, and the Management Method – are legally uncertain and that their legal uncertainty could cause disputes between PFTZ investors and the PRC. To address the problem of legal uncertainty, the article proposes, first, the adoption of a rational connection to the PFTZ as the test for jurisdiction of the PFTZ Court and the PFTZ Court of Arbitration; secondly, the enactment of the Negative List and the Decision as laws in order to clarify their legal status; and, thirdly, a reform of the PFTZ dispute settlement mechanism under the Management Method into an arbitral system.

Citation

Villalta Puig, G., & Tsam Tai, S. L. (2017). China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone investor-state dispute settlement : an uncertain experiment. Journal of World Investment and Trade, 18(4), 673-711. https://doi.org/10.1163/22119000-12340055

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 22, 2017
• Publication Date: Aug 16, 2017
• Deposit Date: Apr 10, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 17, 2019
• Journal: Journal of World Investment and Trade
• Print ISSN: 1660-7112
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 673-711
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/22119000-12340055
• Keywords: Foreign investment law; China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone; Investor-State disputes
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/450531
• Publisher URL: http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/22119000-12340055
• Additional Information: This is the accepted manuscript of an article published in Journal of world investment & trade, 2017. The version of record is available at the DOI link in this record.
• Contract Date: Apr 10, 2017