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Energy is a central aspect of China’s “Belt and Road” policy. In the context of increasing dependence on energy imports, it is of strategic importance for China to ensure the secure and reliable supply of external energy resources to the Chinese market.

Specific challenges for Chinese companies include the protection of their investments against regulatory and policy risks (e.g. expropriation) and against the risk of interruption of energy supply via third countries. At the same time, Chinese foreign energy investments impact on the organisation of energy supply in the host countries, and on the strategic interests of other major players in the region, e.g. the EU that relies on similar sources of energy supply.

The law has an important but largely unexplored role to play in facilitating the necessary investments in the energy infrastructure along the “Belt and Road”, and more generally in regulating China’s increasingly influential foreign energy relations. This conference aims to reflect on the energy policy objectives of the “Belt and Road” policy and critically discuss the role of law for the achievement of China’s energy security under this initiative.

Besides the financing and protection of Chinese energy investments in the “Belt and Road” countries and the question of energy transit, this conference looks at the interaction of the “Belt and Road” policy with existing domestic and multilateral energy security initiatives.