It is headed by Jin Liqun, who worked at the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank on China’s behalf, and was a former monetary policy committee member and supervisory chairman of China’s sovereign wealth fund.
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From the start, the AIIB, based on a vision of Chinese leaders, was envisaged to “promote interconnectivity and economic integration in the region” and “cooperate with existing multilateral development banks”.
The bank was formally established in Beijing on December 25, 2015.
China will invest an additional $50 million in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), President Xi Jinping said at the bank’s opening ceremony in Beijing on Saturday (Jan 16). “It will help the region better cope with its challenges”.
With the bank open after China overcame opposition from the USA, the focus switches to whether it can achieve the high standard of governance it has promised even as waning confidence in the government’s efforts to manage a slowing economy has plunged stocks into a bear market.
“The official launch of the bank will allow us to effectively increase infrastructure investment in Asia”, he said.
The bank officially begins operating with a ceremony and the first board of governors and board of directors meetings this weekend. It is expected to offer its first batch of project loans by mid-2016.
His comments came during a speech at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing on Saturday.
The AIIB “will channel more resources, particularly private investment, into infrastructure projects” in Asia, Xi said.
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AIIB aims to offer investments for infrastructure in Asia, which is said having a “huge gap” by Chinese Minster of Finance, Lou Jiwei.
