Clifford Chance

The China Australia Free Trade Agreement – Investment Chapter

9 July 2015

The China Australia free trade agreement (ChAFTA) was officially signed on 17 June 2015 by Australia’s Trade Minister Andrew Robb and China’s Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng. The investment chapter of the new treaty provides some basic protection for investors but with significant limitations. Furthermore, a number of key provisions have simply been given placeholders for future negotiations. This raises questions as to what coverage will be available for investors in the event that the Australia-China bilateral investment treaty (the Australia-China BIT) is terminated.

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