The PRC has bilateral investment agreements with over 100 countries and economies, including Austria, the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. China’s bilateral investment agreements cover expropriation, arbitration, most-favored-nation treatment, and repatriation of investment proceeds. They are generally regarded as weaker than the investment treaties the United States seeks to negotiate.
China maintains 17 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with its trade and investment partners and is negotiating or implementing an additional eight FTAs. China’s FTA partners are ASEAN, Singapore, Pakistan, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, Iceland, Switzerland, Maldives, Mauritius, Georgia, South Korea, Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, and Macao. In addition, in November 2020, China and 14 other countries signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. China announced the ratification of the agreement in early 2021.