中美直接投资:挑战与破局

Direct Investment Between China and the US:Challenges and Solutions

近年来,中美两国投资者对所处的投资环境均有抱怨,中国企业呼吁公平,美国企业寻求开放。中国企业在美投资受阻的一个重要障碍是美国的国家安全审查制度。中美两国都希望通过推动双边投资协定(BIT)谈判来促进双边投资、保护各自企业的海外利益,但谈判进展缓慢。美国新的BIT范本反映了美国对外投资政策的新动向,其中的许多规定都与美国企业在中国市场中遇到的现实性问题高度相关,将对中国的外资管理体制以及中国企业走出去带来深刻影响与挑战。中美BIT谈判最主要的分歧在于准入前国民待遇以及负面清单问题。第五轮中美战略与经济对话的一个重要成果是中国同意以准入前国民待遇和负面清单为基础与美国进行投资协定实质性谈判。这一突破释放了中国改革的信号,体现了领导层的改革决心,同时也意味着中美BIT谈判即将进入艰苦的阶段,其长期性、复杂性不容小视,能否真正降低中国在美投资壁垒、撬动中国国内相关领域的改革,将取决于进一步的谈判成果。

Both Chinese and US investors are complaining about their investment environment.Chinese investors call for an equal treatment in the United States while their American counterparts demand openness of the Chinese market.Both countries wish to push forward the negotiations of bilateral investment treaty(BIT) to promote bilateral investment and protect overseas interest of their enterprises.But the progress of Sino-US BIT negotiations has been quite slow.The US 2012 model BIT reflects new trend of the country's foreign investment policy.Some of these clauses are highly related with American investors' experiences in China and are likely to have a profound impact on and pose severe challenge to China's foreign investment regulatory system and its drive to encourage its enterprises to 'go abroad.In the BIT negotiations,China and the US disagree with each other on pre-establishment national treatment and negative list.But in the 5th-round China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue,the two sides made a breakthrough after China agreed to enter the essential phase with the US on BIT negotiations based on pre-establishment national treatment and negative list.The ice-breaking move has testified to China's reform-oriented stance and the resolve of the top leadership to push reform.At the same time,it also means that the Sino-US BIT negotiations are entering the most difficult and complicated phase and it will take a long time for the two sides to bridge their gap.Whether the Sino-US BIT negotiations could lead to reduced investment barriers for Chinese investors in the United States and leverage domestic reform agenda depends on what can be further achieved in the negotiations.