Managing 'Belt and Road' Business Disputes: A Case Study of Legal Problems and Solutions

Managing ‘Belt and Road’ Business Disputes is a follow-up of the comprehensive Managing Business Disputes in Today’s China: Duelling with Dragons (2007) guide on foreign direct investment disputes that can arise in the course of initiating and operating a Chinese joint venture. The book provides insights into the various challenges and legal options companies face when dealing with Chinese outbound investment disputes. In particular, this book focuses on disputes arising from the Belt and Road Initiative ('BRI'), which has included projects in more than 70 countries spanning diverse economic and legal environments since its inauguration by the Chinese government in 2013. The nature of the BRI coupled with the economic downturn as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic will inevitably generate more challenges than ever.

What’s in this book:
After setting the scene with the ‘Afrina Government’s’ ill-fated infrastructure project involving Chinese and foreign parties, subsequent chapters provide comprehensive insight into and highlight the following issues that one must consider when dealing with BRI disputes:

• dispute settlement options;
• informal dispute settlement approaches;
• disputes involving Chinese State-Owned Enterprises;
• construction and project finance disputes;
• corruption and bribery;
• sanctions;
• environmental issues.

This revamped title takes a ‘real-life’ scenario, involving a major investment in China’s Belt and Road Project, and traces it from the establishment of the project transactions to the emergence of disputes, describing the structure of PRC companies, financing issues, arbitration and litigation options, and other issues such as sanctions and environment-related disputes. 

How this will help you:
Providing an introduction to the landscape and the issues for those unfamiliar with China’s Belt and Road Project, this book will prove to be an extensive guide from seasoned practitioners on the legal and practical issues of disputes that arise from engaging with Chinese companies doing business outside China in the context of BRI projects and in general. 

Introduction
Michael Moser & Chiann Bao

CHAPTER 1
The Scenario
Michael Moser, John Choong, Chiann Bao & Chan Yong Wei

CHAPTER 2
Dispute Settlement Options: An Overview
Michael Moser, John Choong & Campbell Herbert

CHAPTER 3
Informal Dispute Settlement Approaches
Helen Tang

CHAPTER 4
Arbitration Inside China
Arthur Ma & Sharon Yang¿

CHAPTER 5
Arbitration Outside China
Cameron Hassall & Dominque Yong

CHAPTER 6
International Commercial Courts
Anselmo Reyes

CHAPTER 7
Treaty Framework
Matthew Hodgson

CHAPTER 8
Investment Treaty Remedies
Nils Eliasson

CHAPTER 9
Litigation in China
Fang Zhao, Jiji Wu & Ruowen Wang

CHAPTER 10
Force Majeure and Hardship
Tai-Heng Cheng & Jennifer Lim

CHAPTER 11
Chinese SOEs and Their Investments along the Belt and Road
Cao Lijun

CHAPTER 12
Construction Contracts And Disputes
Nicolas Wiegand, Mariel Dimsey & Tom Proestler

CHAPTER 13
Project Finance
Matt Secomb & Philip Tan

CHAPTER 14
Corruption and Bribery
Louie Llamzon

CHAPTER 15
Sanctions
Meg Utterbeck

CHAPTER 16
Climate Change Dispute Options
Judith Levine & Nicola Swan

CHAPTER 17
Enforcement of Dispute Outcomes
Friven Yeoh & Yan Zhang

CHAPTER 18
Case Management Strategy: Forming the Right Team – Third-party Funding, Experts, Investigators and Other Services Providers
Peter Yuen

CHAPTER 19
Endgame
Michael Moser, Chiann Bao, John Choong & Chan Yong Wei