A Study on the Building of an Online Arbitration Mechanism for Settling Trade Disputes Along the Belt and Road

As trade disputes along the Belt and Road keep increasing, how to properly address these disputes has become a focus in the Chinese legal community. At present, when it comes to the settlement of trade disputes along the Belt and Road, both traditional litigation and arbitration are faced with many legal and realistic challenges brought about by the complicated situations along the Belt and Road. Given this, building an online arbitration mechanism for settling trade disputes along the Belt and Road in the context of the Internet economy has been proposed. Traditional litigation is faced with a range of laws from different states, as well as the impact of huge differences in the national political systems, economic strengths and legal cultures regarding specific cases. An online arbitration mechanism may be capable of effectively mitigating the laws of the various states and the impact of the differences between them. Additionally, applying "virtual space" to arbitration is in line with the Internet economy's intrinsic need for higher speed and efficiency. Building an online arbitration mechanism for settling trade disputes along the Belt and Road is also a crucial manifestation of diversifying dispute settlement mechanisms.

Formal or Informal? The Dispute Settlement Mechanisms of China's Free Trade Agreements

The dispute settlement mechanism(DSM) has long been the focus of attention because of its significant role in the institutional construction of China's free trade agreements(FTAs). Thus, this paper is to make an analysis of the DSMs of China's established FTAs from a legal perspective of international regime study, which leads to the finding of a co-existence mode of formal and informal DSMs in China's FTAs. This paper also discusses the motivation and significance of such a choice.

DIFFICULTIES CONFRONTED BY ICSID TRIBUNALS IN DECIDING INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT CORRUPTION CASES AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

The issue of corruption has attracted increasing attention in the study and practice of international investment law during recent years.After taking prudent consideration of the corruption defense invoked by the host states in some international investment arbitration cases involved with corruption,International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes(ICSID)tribunals accordingly determined the final awards.However,some parts of the arbitral jurisprudence aroused strong criticism,especially with regard to the ICSID tribunals’reasoning that arbitrators have no jurisdiction over corruption-tainted international investments.The ICSID tribunals are legitimately supposed to exercise their jurisdiction and are lawfully obliged to probe into the nature of corrupt activities.The tribunals are strongly expected to adopt a balanced approach in deciding the merits and fairly weighing the obligations,rights,and interests of both disputing parties.It is preferable to strengthen the collaborative interaction between ICSID proceedings and domestic anti-corruption enforcement mechanisms when it comes to combating corrupt international investment activities.Existing international treaties(or specific treaty provisions)on combating corruption in international business transactions and calling for international cooperation,alongside domestic anti-corruption enforcement legislation,have actually laid solid legal foundations for the establishment of such an anti-corruption coordinative mechanism between ICSID and domestic corruption regulatory authorities on the global level.