The “One Belt One Road” Initiative has been an eye-catching term for Western media
since it was first published in March 2015. Foreign observers often conceive the
Initiative as a Chinese State agenda whose aim is to promote its political, economic,
and cultural influence across the globe. Furthermore, the Initiative also provokes
strong debates in many hosting countries due to geopolitical and national security
concerns. These arguments have been voiced also as to the Chinese investment in
the port of Trieste under the Initiative. Given the fact that Chinese foreign direct
investments (“FDIs”) must go through a series of rigorous administrative approval
procedures before they finally reach abroad, it is useful to understand administrative
approvals’ impact on investment contracts. Thus, this paper will focus on the
complicated relations between contract validity and FDIs’ administrative approvals
in Chinese law.
