10 February 2023
By Hanna Jez
Associate Professor Kun Fan spoke at a webinar co-hosted by the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy (SIDRA) at Singapore Management University (SMU) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Singapore Arbitration Group on 11 January 2023. The conference explored ‘A Review of China’s Sustainable Development of Goals Through International Investment Agreements’ in the wake of the recent paradigm shift in the development of the international investment agreements (IIAs) regime which has moved from investor protection to investor responsibilisation.
What role do and should China play in making IIAs more sustainable? What is the current status of existing Chinese IIAs with respect to SDGs? Is there a trend towards more sustainable treaty making in China’s investment policy? Reflecting on these key questions, Associate Professor Kun Fan examined China’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) through its investment treaty making. Based on the comprehensive treaty survey, Associate Professor Fan presented on the general approaches of the existing Chinese IIAs on sustainable development, analysed the trend of China’s investment policy in terms of SDGs, and anticipated future prospects within this field of law.
Associate Professor Fan was joined by fellow arbitration expert Mr. Zhuo Jiaxiang, Director at Providence Law Asia LLC and co-head of the firm’s arbitration practice group, who provided practitioner’s insights on this topic as a commentator. Ms. Zhang Yuying, Research Associate at SIDRA, acted as moderator.
The full paper of Associate Professor Kun Fan’s research on ‘A Review of China’s Sustainable Development Goals through International Investment Agreements’ has been published in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Bulletin Issue 3, December 2022, and is accessible here.
This research was supported by Bird & Bird under the research grant ‘Investment Treaties and Sustainable Development' and by the Australian Research Council under the ARC project ‘China's Belt and Road Initiative: A New Model of Economic Governance?'
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You can read more about Associate Professor Kun Fan’s research on SSRN, Google Scholar and Twitter @Fankunlegal.