On the afternoon of Sept. 15, 2017, a conference was successfully held at the Law School of Wuhan University, which was about the dispute settlement mechanism of the Belt and Road Initiatives (B&R), Article 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974 and the establishment of World Investment and Trade Organization (WITO). The WTO Law Research Society of China Law Society, Wuhan University Institute of International Law and Wuhan University Center of Oversea Investment Law were the joint organizers of this conference.
The meeting was attended by nearly 40 experts and scholars from institutes all over China, including the Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the Supreme People's Court, Academy of Macroeconomic Research, NDRC, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology, and several top law schools.
The conference was divided into three parts.
In the first part (Dispute Settlement Mechanism of the Belt and Road Initiatives), the experts focused on the necessity and urgency of establishing a dispute settlement mechanism for B&R and the approaches to establish a new dispute settlement institution.
In the second part (Article 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974), considering that Donald Trump authorized the U.S. trade representatives to start an investigation towards China according to Article 301, the participants widely discussed the background, target, factual and legal basis of this investigation, as well as its legitimacy under the WTO system and the links between this investigation and WTO dispute settlement precedents.
In the last part (The Establishment of WITO), the participants exchanged their opinions on the backgrounds and origins of WITO concept, the relationships between trade and investment, and the opportunities and obstacles to establishing WITO.
Writer：Xiong Ying （熊樱）
Proofreader：Xiong Chao （熊超）
Category: Center Updates