Founded on the lines of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, the AIIB will focus on financing infrastructure construction across Asia.
AIIB has 57 developed and developing nations as prospective founding members, including Australia, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Philippines and South Korea.
However, the US and Japan, two of the world’s largest economies, have decided not to join the bank.
According to reports, China holds 30.34% of the bank’s stake, while India holds 8.52%, followed by Russia with 6.66% ownership.
Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Center executive deputy director-general Zhou Qiangwu was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying that the AIIB has progressed partly due to China’s growing national strength and rising global influence.
"On the other hand, it also shows that the government’s goal of building the AIIB into an open, transparent and highly-efficient multilateral institution as well as the high standards it is upholding have garnered extensive recognition and strong support across the world.
"It is in line with the best interests, and meets the practical needs of various parties." Zhou added.
With authorized capital of $100bn, the bank is expected to use international, normative standards in its governance structure, operational policies and human resource management.
Image: The 8th AIIB Chief Negotiators’ Meeting convened in Jakarta. Photo: courtesy of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
