China-Africa Dispute Settlement. The Law, Culture and Economics of Arbitration

The nature and magnitude of the growth in China-Africa economic relations in recent years is unprecedented and extraordinary. According to recent estimates, the value of China’s trade with African nations grew from a mere USD 10 million in the 1980s to USD 55 billion in 2006, and to more than USD 100 billion by the end of 2009, at which time nearly 1,600 Chinese companies were doing business in Africa with a direct stock investment of about USD 7.8 billion. The accelerating impetus of China-Africa trade has overtaken some crucially important features of an effective trade regime, most notably a fully trustworthy dispute resolution system. It is the current and potential future efficacy of such a system that is taken up in this book with great understanding and skill.

The author evaluates existing mechanisms of dispute resolution in all aspects of China-Africa economic relations in light of the parties’ economic and cultural profiles and their evolving legal traditions, and goes on to propose a comprehensive institutional model of dispute resolution that takes full account of the economic needs and legal cultures of both China and the various African countries.

Among the topics and issues that arise in the course of the book are the following:

• suitability of the WTO’s dispute resolution mechanism for China-Africa trade relations;
• domestic, bilateral, regional, and multilateral law sources affecting China-Africa commerce;
• the role of intra-Africa bilateral investment treaties;
• competing interests that underpin international investment law;
• relevant legal, economic, and political challenges and cultural barriers;
• permissible scope of regional trade regimes;
• national treatment versus duty to compensate; and
• harmonization initiatives—model laws, incoterms, restatements.

The author includes in-depth analysis of how China-Africa economic relations fare in the varieties of dispute resolution methods available at the major arbitral European and American institutions—ICSID, AAA, ICC, LCIA, PCA—as well as under the rules of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and the important arbitral fora in Cairo, Kuala Lumpur, and Lagos. Endorsing institutional arbitration as the most appropriate form of resolving trade, investment, and commercial disputes arising between China and African countries, this ground-breaking analysis outlines the obstacles and shortcomings of the available means of dispute settlement, both in international and domestic contexts, and offers deeply informed recommendations for improvement of the existing system. Although the book will be welcomed by interested scholars and practitioners for its detailed discussion of how China-Africa trade relations are situated within the global trade regime, its most enduring value lies in its thorough evaluation of the available options and its proposals for structuring a legal framework within which future disputes will be effectively resolved.

Foreword.

Part I Background

Chapter 1 General Introduction

Chapter 2 Historical Background of China-Africa Economic Relations

Part II The Legal Framework and Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in China-Africa Trade Relations

Chapter 3 The Multilateral Trading System and the Place of China and Africa within It

Chapter 4 The WTO Dispute Settlement System and the Barriers Developing Nations Face

Chapter 5 Considerations in Trade Dispute Resolution Unique to China-Africa Relations

Chapter 6 Evaluating Regional Options and a Look at the Arbitration Alternative

Part III The Legal Framework for the Resolution of China-Africa Investment Disputes

Chapter 7 The Evolution of International Investment Law

Chapter 8 The Sources and Content of Current International Investment Law

Chapter 9 The Sources of Law in China-Africa Investment Relations

Part IV The Legal Framework in China-Africa Private Commercial Relations

Chapter 10 Private Commercial Relations

Chapter 11 Domestic Legal Frameworks

Part V Arbitration

Chapter 12 International Arbitration

Chapter 13 Arbitration in the United States and Europe: Profiles of Selected Arbitral Institutions

Chapter 14 Arbitration in Asia and Africa: Profiles of Selected Arbitral Institutions

Chapter 15 Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations

Appendix 1 Sharm El Sheikh Summit Declaration

Appendix 2 Sharm El Sheikh Action Plan

Appendix 3 IISD Model Investment Agreement

Appendix 4 CIETAC Arbitration Rules

Appendix 5 Cairo Center Arbitration Rules

Appendix 6 KLRCA Arbitration Rules

Appendix 7 Lagos Centre Arbitration Ru

Appendix 8 Chinese Arbitration Law.

Bibliography.

Table of Cases.

Table of Legislation and International Agreements.

Index.