AIIB: multilateral development bank operating by int'l standards

Photo taken on Dec. 21, 2015 shows the sign of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is not a "China's bank," but a multilateral development institution operating by international standards, AIIB President Jin Liqun said at a financial forum in Hong Kong.

"AIIB is a bank initiated by China, but it's not a 'China's bank'," Jin said, adding that AIIB, which was created through negotiations of all the 57 founding member countries and now has 84 members, is a multilateral development bank "operating by international standards and with 21-century governance."

"We will work with all the countries regardless of their membership ... We recruit professionals from across the world ... (and) we have international competitive bidding (that) any company can participate," Jin said in a dialogue on the impact of China's policies on global economic development during the two-day Asian Financial Forum that concluded on Tuesday.

According to Jin, China's idea to propose this new bank is "to supplement the efforts of existing institutions like the World Bank and ADB."

On the relationship between AIIB and other Chinese-proposed initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative, Jin said that since lots of projects related to the initiative are for AIIB member countries, the bank is "duty-bound" to support these projects.

However, he stressed that AIIB will consider financing the projects only if they are financially sustainable, environmentally friendly and acceptable to local people.

"We are not going to do loss-making business ... We are not going to do an infrastructure project leaving a big footprint in the environment ... (and) we should bring benefit to the local people, not to create problems," Jin said.

Editor: Wang Shixue