Investment Expropriation and its Requirements: A Cursory Appraisal of the Ethio-China BIT and the Practice

Abstract

The era of globalization is accompanied by trans-border investment activities. These activities are partly regulated by bilateral and multi-lateral investment agreements signed between different State entities. One of the pertinent issues raised in the crossborder investment is the management of expropriation of properties. Countries cannot ignore the problem of expropriation in cross-border investment transactions. The purpose of taking property clauses in treaties is to protect foreign investors by establishing standards for the manner in which host States might take or otherwise interfere their property rights. Meaning, it limits the right of States to take property by imposing certain requirements. The governments of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the People’s Republic of China have signed a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) for the encouragement and reciprocal protection of investments between the two countries. The aim of this paper is to examine the expropriation of investment clause and its practice, and the requirements available during an act of expropriation or nationalization in accordance with the BIT existing between the two countries. Keywords: BIT, Ethio-China, expropriation, investment, lawful, requirements.