ASEAN Financial Integration and ‘One Belt, One Road’ : Legal Challenges to and Opportunities for China in Southeast Asia

This paper generally explores legal challenges to Chinese financial institutions in Southeast Asia amidst China's grand ‘One Belt, One Road' plan in 2015 and the establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nationals (ASEAN) Economic Community effective in 2016. Banking and finance play an important role in promoting trade, investment and infrastructure projects. As an immense economic bloc located immediately south of China, ASEAN's development would have an immense effect on China's ‘One Belt, One Road' strategy. In this paper, we outline the current development of financial integration regarding the banking and insurance sectors in ASEAN and consider legal obstacles and potential trade barriers facing Chinese banks and insurers offering credit facilities or insurance protection for projects conducted in ASEAN amidst further ASEAN financial integration and the ASEAN–China free trade agreement in the modern digital era