While there is an extensive amount of literature on the noodle bowl of agreements in Asia, the majority of studies exclusively focus on trade (in goods). So far, little emphasis has been placed on the proliferation of international investment treaties (IIAs). Given the significance of IIAs, it...

States across Asia have long engaged in international investment treaty making, and to a lesser extent in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) proceedings. Engagement has intensified partly as bilateral investment treaties (BITs) proliferated especially from the 1990s, but also Asian states...

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement was signed in February 2016 by 12 Asia-Pacific economies that already account for 40% of world GDP, including the United States, Japan and Australia. If ratified, economists model significant economic growth prospects, especially for smaller and/or...

The Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation announced the establishment of the International Commercial Dispute Prevention and Settlement Organization (ICDPASO) in 2019. The ICDPASO was coordinated by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the China...

Asian countries have actively engaged in global FTA races and led rule development in terms of FTA negotiations. While proliferating FTAs raise concern for growing inconsistency problems between the WTO and FTAs, this paper shows diverging approaches in Asian FTAs in relation to dispute...

Trade in technology goods has increased rapidly. The twelve-year-old Information Technology Agreement (ITA) in the WTO has facilitated this process and has contributed to the dissemination of technology across the world. Yet the ITA needs to be improved to provide for further trade...