CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2026
| Author | Mancini, Sofia |
|---|---|
| Title | Making Friends Through Quarrel: Chinese Investor-State Dispute Settlement as Relational Foreign Policy |
| Summary | Historically, China has not resorted to official investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms for solving most of its investment disputes, favoring alternative means of dispute resolution such as negotiation. Yet, over the past two decades, its participation in the ISDS system has risen slightly, and some expect this trend to intensify as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) expands. China has maintained an ambiguous and open approach in formal negotiations on the future of the ISDS system. Concurrently, it has expanded its capabilities for international investment dispute settlement with provisions of domestic, regional, and global scope. In agreement with a growing body of academic literature recognizing the foreign policy relevance of international investment arbitration, this analysis considers China’s ISDS practices and position on ISDS reform as an instrument of foreign policy, which as such is integrated in the country’s grand strategy. In light of this, I make use of Qin Yaqing’s Relational Theory of World Politics and of existing theoretical analyses of the practice of arbitration in China to conduct a preliminary IR-informed analysis. I find that China will not necessarily converge with Western countries on its use of formal ISDS mechanisms, even as the BRI evolves. Instead, I suggest that Chinese ideas and practices regarding dispute settlement will significantly shape ISDS in the future, as the magnitude of the BRI may establish them in practice regardless of their visibility in UN-facilitated negotiations. Moreover, contextualizing China’s ISDS in its grand strategy may contribute to a better understanding of it, aiding related diplomacy and policy design. |
| Supervisor | Soave, Tommaso |
| Department | Undergraduate Studies BA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2026/mancini_sofia.pdf |
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