Briefing on US-China Negotiations on the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) (Members Only)

Please join us for a members-only briefing on the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) negotiations between the United States and China. State Department and US Trade Representative negotiators will be in Beijing for the latest round of negotiations and can provide members an overview of the BIT framework, results of prior rounds of negotiation, and the potential impact of a BIT on the American business community in China. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.

The US bilateral investment treaty program helps to protect private investment, to develop market-oriented policies in partner countries, and to promote US exports. The BIT program's basic aims are:

• to protect investment abroad in countries where investor rights are not already protected through existing agreements (such as modern treaties of friendship, commerce, and navigation, or free trade agreements);
• to encourage the adoption of market-oriented domestic policies that treat private investment in an open, transparent, and non-discriminatory way; and
• to support the development of international law standards consistent with these objectives.