Research On The Regulation Of "treaty Selection" In International Investment Arbitration

Since the conclusion of the first bilateral investment agreement between Germany and Pakistan in 1959,the bilateral investment agreement has gradually expanded and become the most important form of international investment law.All countries have continuously adjusted their international investment relations through the conclusion of new international investment agreements.Nowadays,in the international law system,there is hardly any other field of treaty networks like international investment law.These investment agreements give strong protection to international investment.In addition to substantive treatment,most modern international investment agreements also provide dispute settlement provisions,which provide a way for investors to seek protection.However,the network of bilateral investment treaties of the international community still does not cover all countries,making it possible for investors to be unable to obtain the protection of investment treaties.In this context,investors have the idea of selecting treaties in order to realize their maximum interestsIn the practice of international investment arbitration,there is no uniform conclusion as to whether investors’ "treaty shopping" is legal.The arbitral tribunal will make a determination based on individual cases.However,from the perspective of the host country,the negative impact of the investors’ treaty shopping is self-evident.On the one hand,it increases the risk of the host country being sued.On the other hand,it may damage the public interests of the host country.At present,at the time of the reform of international investment rules,many countries have recognized the negative impact of "treaty shopping" on the host country.The existence of "treaty shopping" will not be conducive to the rational evolution of international investment law."Treaty shopping" is included in the scope of the reform of international investment rules.Therefore,it is necessary to conduct an in-depth discussion on"treaty shopping" by investors and seek to regulate it.As China’s activities in the international investment field become more frequent,it is necessary to plan ahead and improve the relevant provisions of China’s international investment agreements in order to deal with investors’treaty shopping.There are four chapters in this paper.The first chapter is an overview of "treaty shopping"in international investment.Firstly,it defines "treaty shopping" in international investment arbitration,analyzes the characteristics of "treaty shopping",and then introduces two ways for investors to select treaties,and makes a systematic analysis of the reasons for "treaty shopping".The second chapter makes an empirical analysis through the concrete case to the decision of the arbitration tribunal.In international arbitration,there are a large number of cases in which investors conduct "treaty shopping",through nationality planning.However,the arbitration tribunal has made inconsistent awards on this practice of investors.Therefore,it is necessary to explore the arbitral tribunal’s decision on investor treaty shopping in different cases to find feasible ways to regulate "treaty shopping".The third chapter analyzes the negative impact of "treaty shopping".It increases the host country’s risk of being sued and increases the host country’s litigation burden.What’s more,"treaty shopping" poses a great challenge to the host country’s public interest,so it is necessary to regulate "treaty shopping".Based on the existing regulatory practices in the current practice,this article analyzes the existing path of regulatory "treaty shopping"behavior,and provides experience for China to regulatory investors’ "treaty shopping" in the future.The fourth chapter firstly introduces the current status of international investment treaties in China.There are already cases in China where investors have made "treaty shopping" by invoking the most-favored-nation treatment clause,and there is also a risk of "treaty shopping"by investors through nationality planning.Therefore,we should start with the improvement of key provisions to further strengthen the prevention and regulation of "treaty shopping" in the international investment field.