Chinese President, Premier to attend opening of new China-led Bank
January 9, 2016, 5:39 am

Founding members include the BRICS, half of the European Union and all of the Asian bloc, ASEAN [Xinhua]

Founding members include the BRICS, half of the European Union and all of the Asian bloc, ASEAN.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying confirmed the attendance of the top leadership on Friday.

Chinese President Xi will address the inaugurating ceremony in the morning of Jan. 16 while Li will address the founding conference of the AIIB council in the afternoon, Hua noted. The series of opening events will last from Jan. 16 to 18.

The China-led development bank was formally established in Beijing on 25 December.

The Banks’ board of directors and executive council will meet for the first time from Jan. 16 to 18 in Beijing.

Despite the opposition of Washington, Philippines, a major US ally in the region, has joined the new lender.

The US and Japan have not applied for the membership in the AIIB.

The bank, headquartered in Beijing, now has 57 members, that includes Germany, France, Italy, and the UK.

Visiting British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told his Chinese counterpart this week in Beijing that Britain will play an active role in the AIIB.

Writing in the Forbes, commentator Stephen Harner says “that relations with China have become possibly the most serious conflict in U.S.-U.K. relations is of historic importance”.

“Britain is showing that it will break ranks when American “leadership” is heading in the wrong direction,” writes Harner.

The new lender is expected to name its first lending projects in mid-2016.

The China-backed multilateral development institution is tasked with financing infrastructure development across Asia.

With an authorized capital of $100 billion, the AIIB will finance infrastructure projects like the construction of roads, railways, and airports in the Asia-Pacific Region.

The ADB has estimated that in the next decade Asian countries will need $8 trillion in infrastructure investments to maintain the current economic growth rate.

The AIIB will extend China’s financial reach and compete not only with the World Bank, but also with the Asian Development Bank, which is heavily dominated by Japan.

BRICS members, China, India and Russia are the three largest shareholders, taking a 30.34 per cent, 8.52 per cent, 6.66 per cent stake, respectively. Their voting shares are calculated at 26.06 per cent, 7.5 per cent and 5.92 per cent.

“China is not deliberately seeking a veto power,” its stake and voting share in the initial stage are the “natural outcome” of current rules, and may be diluted as more members join, China’s Vice Finance Minister Shi Yaobin has said.

The bank will always be open to new membership, Jin Liqun, the bank’s president-designate has confirmed.

TBP and Agencies