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Abstract
Under the leadership of Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party, China aims to establish itself as an ecological civilisation model, both domestically and globally.
This paper explores the obstacles to China's global ecological advocacy, highlighting two interconnected factors: outdated international investment agreements and China's illiberal approach to global governance. Referring to Darren Lim and John Ikenberry's (2023) description of the BRI as being part of China's illiberal hegemony, the paper discusses the paradox of extending China's Eco-driven systems globally. This puzzle necessitates China to either extend its sovereignty over its citizens and enterprises abroad or the jurisdiction of a multilateral rule-based system. The paper argues that this conundrum requires rethinking China's strategies for international engagement. It aims to address the question: "To what extent does Chinese illiberal hegemony, highlighted by its Bilateral Investment Treaties, aid or undermine environmental conservation in the developing world?" The paper uses China’s Bilateral Investment Treaties and fieldwork data from two African countries, Kenya and Zimbabwe, to explore the tension between illiberal hegemony and ecological civilisation.
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