Impact of RCEP’s Investment Chapter on the Investment Agreements of Its Member States

Abstract

The signing of RCEP is an important step towards the regional economic integration of East Asia and Oceania. When studying the impact of the RCEP investment chapter on the investment agreements of member states, China and Japan were selected as examples. The history of investment and trade between China and Japan has been ups and downs. In addition to the signing of the first BIT between the two countries in 1988, a new trilateral investment agreement was signed among China, Japan and South Korea in 2012. By comparing these investment agreements with the RCEP investment chapters, one can discover the advantages and disadvantages of the RCEP investment chapters. Therefore, although the RCEP investment chapter has in fact become the basis for each member country to sign a new investment agreement, the member country cannot copy it when signing a new investment agreement. Due to the complexity of RCEP membership and the characteristics of RCEP as an economic organization, it has made certain concessions for the sovereignty of member states in terms of investor protection. Both the trilateral agreement signed by China, Japan and South Korea in 2012 and the RCEP investment chapter have their reference significance.