Yawen’s research interests include investment law, energy law, and environmental protection. Before joining the Centre for International Law, NUS, Yawen was a postdoctoral fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she conducted research on possible damage awarded in investment arbitration triggered by fossil fuel phase-out policies. Before that, Yawen obtained her PhD degree from the University of Edinburgh in 2021. Her thesis evaluates whether China’s foreign investment legal regime (including China’s domestic law governing inward and outward investments, China’s investment treaties, and the Belt and Road Initiative) can lead its two-way investments to contribute to the country’s development goals. Her work appears in journals like the Journal of World Investment and Trade. Apart from her research, Yawen also taught advanced legal writing and tutored public international law at the bachelor level. Prior to her doctoral studies, Yawen obtained an LLM in international law from the University College London in 2015, and an LLB in 2014 from the Sun Yat-sen University, China.
