China and the ASEAN are negotiating to establish a free trade area and an investment agreement is an integral part of it.The ongoing investment agreement negotiations have achieved some basic consensus as to specific contents of the agreement.However,due to the procedural obstacles and substantive controversies,the negotiations have become stagnant.In order to reach a final and successful conclusion of the investment agreement,the procedural obstacles should be' overcome and the substantive controversies be settled since the agreement has economic and political implications for both China and the ASEAN.