The Disciplines of State-Owned Enterprises in the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment: Assessment, Implications and Directions

Considerable attention has been paid to the activities of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), due to their state ownership and active role in the international market. Tailored SOE disciplines incorporated in recent negotiated or signed trade and investment agreements aim to direct the transnational conduct of SOEs and achieve a level playing field. This chapter analyses the SOE disciplines contained in the text of key provisions of the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), assesses the implication of these SOE specific rules and discusses whether the CAI will shape SOE-specific rules globally. In disciplining SOEs, CAI provides a definition of covered entities, delivers on requirements of acting in accordance with commercial consideration, avoiding discriminatory treatment and ensuring transparency. This chapter recognises the merits and remaining issues of these SOE-specific rules in CAI as a potential model in regulating SOEs in other regional and multilateral negotiations.