The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international financial institution which aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region.
The bank was proposed as an initiative by the government of China, supported by 37 regional and 20 non-regional Prospective Founding Members (PFM), all of which have signed the Articles of Agreement that form the legal basis for the proposed bank.
The bank will start operation after the agreement enters into force, which requires ratifications from 10 member states holding a total number of 50% of the initial subscriptions of the Authorized Capital Stock.
On 25 December 2015, 17 states (Australia, Austria, Brunei, China, Georgia, Germany, Jordan, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea and the United Kingdom) together holding 50.1% of the initial subscriptions of Authorized Capital Stock, have deposited the instrument of ratification for the agreement, making them all founding members and bringing the Articles of Agreement, the bank’s charter, into force. Russia followed, taking the amount of Authorized Capital Stock held by members of the bank to 56.8%. Major economies that did not become PFM include the United States, Japan and Canada.
The bank was proposed by China in 2013 and the initiative was launched at a ceremony in Beijing in October 2014.
It has 57 founding members and Headquarterd at Beijing, China.
The AIIB, a modern knowledge-based institution, will focus on the development of infrastructure and other productive sectors in Asia, including energy and power, transportation and telecommunications, rural infrastructure and agriculture development, water supply and sanitation, environmental protection, urban development and logistics, etc.
Mr. Jin Liqun has served as AIIB’s President-designate since September 1, 2015. He was appointed Secretary-General of the Multilateral Interim Secretariat by the AIIB Special Ministerial Meeting on October 24, 2014.
