The reform of international investment treaties goes along with the reform of investor-state investment arbitration mechanism. The text and practice of exception clause manifest opposite development tendency. Recently states include more categories of exceptions in IIAs to strengthen the host states’regulatory power under the “legitimate crisis”and respond to new security risks. Meanwhile, international investment tribunals tend to restrict the application of exception clauses to prevent the abuse of exceptions. The design of China’s future IIAs should be guided by the overall national security outlook and the principle of interest balance. The Chinese IIAs should include exception clauses and design according to different risks. Moreover, China’s Foreign Investment Law should also clarify securities in IIAs, so as to balance development and security, and to maintain China’s regulatory power while deepening the opening-up.