The Conflict And Coordination Between Trade Freedom And Environmental Protection In China’s FTA

As a new option to promote trade development between countries or regions,FTA has grown into one of the normal modes of international economic and trade governance.At present,along with the increase in trade activities and deepening cooperation among FTA contracting parties,trade and environment has become one of the hot issues of concern in FTAs,and China has also shown its attention to the relationship between trade and environment in the process of FTA negotiations and contracting.In this context,it is important to enhance the ability to reconcile the conflict between trade freedom and environmental protection in China’s FTAs.In reality,the potential conflict between trade freedom and environmental protection in China’s FTA has not yet been effectively resolved,specifically in terms of the conflict between the concept of environmental protection and the goal of trade liberalisation,the conflict in the application of the law arising from the introduction of the MEAs rules,and the conflict between the features of the environmental chapter and the value coordination function.The root cause of the conflict lies in the divergent perceptions of the right to development and the right to the environment by different States parties.Both economic development and environmental protection play a positive role in national development,but at the same time,there are limits to their contribution to the realisation of the right to development,and exaggerating either one at the expense of the other will hinder the realisation of the right to development.Secondly,the introduction of MEAs in China’s FTA to reconcile trade and environment,but the lack of a way to deal with the conflict between the application of the two laws,instead,has made it easy for the potential conflict between trade and environment to become apparent.Finally,the overly open nature of the environmental chapters undermines the value of conflict reconciliation that it should have,and reduces the ability of China’s FTA to reconcile the conflict between trade freedom and environmental protection.In this regard,this paper argues that in dealing with the potential conflict between trade freedom and environmental protection in China’s FTA,firstly,it should clarify China’s position,grasp the specificity of China’s trade status,adhere to the balanced development of trade and environment,and make use of human-centred thinking to deal with the relationship between trade and environment.Secondly,the harmonisation of the legal application of China’s FTAs and MEAs should be improved,treaty interpretation should be used to harmonise the application of the law,and trade restrictions on MEAs introduced by the provisions of the MEAs should be treated with caution.Lastly,the specific text of the environmental chapter of the FTA should be appropriately refined,a differentiated model of environmental standards should be established,the conflict prevention function of the environmental chapter should be enhanced,the construction of supporting mechanisms for environmental cooperation should be strengthened,and WTO arbitration should be attempted as a basis for resolving trade and environmental disputes.