Treaties on the International Trade Dispute Settlement and the China “Belt and Road” Initiative

Abstract

Under the background of the “Belt and Road” initiative, international trade disputes could be classified into three types: international trade disputes between states, international investment disputes between state and investor, and international trade disputes between parties as non-states. Due to the characteristic of difference disputes, there are different settlement mechanisms. For disputes that involve states in the context of the “One Belt and One Road” initiative, the Multilateral dispute settlement mechanism such as World Trade Organization (WTO) and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) should not be applied directly because of their limitations or shortcomings of their mechanism, but the New York Convention is the most effective mechanism for resolving disputes between individuals over international trade. The model of international trade between countries along the “Belt and Road” is “China-centered” and “peer-to-peer”, which determined the superiority of bilateral consultation and settlement mechanism, thus it is urgent to improve or revise bilateral treaties between China and the countries along the “Belt and Road”. At the meantime, it is also essential to create a “reticular trade” environment among countries with a view to promoting the establishment of multilateral cooperation mechanisms among countries along the “Belt and Road”.