The Construction Of Environmental Clauses In China’s Model Bilateral Investment Treaty

As an important tool for promoting and protecting investment,the bilateral investment treaty model has been widely applied in the international community in recent years.At present,environmental protection and investment promotion have become the trend of The Times.More and more countries have included environmental clauses in bilateral investment treaty models.The environmental clause in the model bilateral investment treaty consists of preamble clause,special clause,general exception clause and environment-related investment clause.In 2010,China’s Ministry of Commerce released the 2010 Model(draft)of China’s Bilateral Investment Treaty,but it has not been put into use.So it is of great benefit to sort out the development history of environmental clauses of China’s bilateral investment treaty.So far,China has signed bilateral investment treaties with 145 countries,the second largest number of bilateral investment treaties in the world.But China’s bilateral investment treaties have few environmental provisions.In addition,there are some problems in the environmental clauses of China’s bilateral investment treaties,such as vague terms and weak system.Therefore,China should standardize and systematize the environmental provisions when constructing the model bilateral investment treaty,so as to provide more legal protection for the environmental protection in the current and future investment fields.This paper is divided into four parts,which are the basic connotation and construction background of environmental clauses in bilateral investment treaty model,the evolution and evaluation of environmental clauses in China’s bilateral investment treaty,the reform and enlightenment of environmental clauses in foreign bilateral investment treaty model and the suggestions on the construction of environmental clauses in China’s bilateral investment treaty model.In the first chapter,this paper expounds the basic connotation of model environmental clauses of BIT from three aspects: concept connotation of model environmental clauses,overview of model environmental clauses of BIT,and basic form of model environmental clauses of BIT.Secondly,it expounds the background of environmental clause construction of the model bilateral investment treaty.In the second chapter,firstly,the historical evolution of China’s BIT is discussed,which is divided into four stages.Secondly,it evaluates the environmental provisions in China’s bilateral investment treaties.Finally,the paper analyzes the inadequacies of the environmental provisions of China’s bilateral investment treaties.The third chapter starts with different models of bilateral investment treaties between developed countries and developing countries,and introduces the latest trends of environmental clauses in bilateral investment treaty models of Germany,the United States,Brazil and India.The fourth chapter,by referring to the environmental clauses of the model bilateral investment treaties of developed countries and developing countries and combining with the actual situation of China,puts forward the concrete suggestions on the construction of the environmental clauses of the model bilateral investment treaties of China.