The China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), has been officially launched in Beijing and is expected to start operation in early 2016. The launch of the bank has came just six months after an article of agreement (AOA) was signed by 57 prospective founding members in June, and 26 months after President Xi Jinping proposed it in October 2013. It is the first major multilateral lender with developing countries holding the majority of the shares and votes. The AIIB will be operational after board of directors and executive council meet for the first time. The meetings are slated to from January 16 to 18 in Beijing.

The bank’s president will be officially appointed and the management team will be in place at the meetings. The bank will start recruiting new members, Jin Liqun, the bank’s president-designate, said, adding that members of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) could apply to join the AIIB.

With authorized capital of $100 billion, the AIIB will initially prioritise investment in energy, power generation, transportation, rural infrastructure, environmental protection and logistics. It is expected to offer loans to the first batch of projects in mid-2016.

AIIB

• AIIB is regarded by some as a rival for the IMF, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which are regarded as dominated by developed countries like the United States.
• The headquarters of the bank is in Beijing, China.