AIIB injects new vitality to development of sustainable infrastructure: Chinese finance minister

JEJU ISLAND - The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has become an important member of the world's multilateral development system and has injected new vitality to the development of sustainable infrastructure and connectivity, said Chinese Finance Minister Xiao Jie.

Xiao made the remarks at the Second Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the AIIB held here through Saturday.

Xiao said that Chinese leaders have attached great importance to the building and management of the AIIB, while members of the bank have also held high expectations for its future development.

With the support of its members, the bank has been off to a good start since it was launched in January 2016, Xiao said, adding that the bank has finished with high efficiency formulating rules and regulations, building organizational structure, and has approved 23 new members while deepening cooperation and partnership with relevant parties.

He stressed that the annual meeting, with the theme "Sustainable Infrastructure," shows the bank's commitment to promoting Asian as well as the world economic development through providing financing for sustainable infrastructure development.

The bank, with its lean structure and highly efficient operation model, has a late-development advantage in promoting sustainable infrastructure development, mobilizing private sector capital, and effectively responding to the needs of clients, Xiao said.

He hopes that the AIIB could exhibit its uniqueness and innovativeness as a 21st century development institution and inject new vitality to the existing multilateral development system, accurately comprehend the new trends of international development and better meet the diversified needs of its members, and increasingly mobilize the money from private sector to build a long-term, steady, sustainable multilateral financing system with risks under control for supporting infrastructure development.

The Second Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the AIIB kicked off on Friday, with governors and representatives of the members, government officials, international organization officials, scholars and businessmen in attendance.

The meeting approved three new members, Argentina, Madagascar and Tonga, to join the bank, and decided that the third annual meeting to be held in Mumbai, India in June 2018.

Xiao attended the meeting as a Chinese governor of the bank. He also met with South Korean Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, and Financial Secretary of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Paul Chan Mo-po on the sidelines of the meeting.