Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for making the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) a new platform that promotes development for all its members and facilitates the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Xi made the remarks when addressing via video link the opening ceremony of the fifth annual meeting of the multilateral development bank.
He called on efforts to make the AIIB a new type of multilateral development bank that promotes development across the world, a new type of development platform progressing with the times, a new type of high-performance institution for international cooperation and a new paradigm of multilateral cooperation.
The AIIB, proposed by Xi in late 2013, was officially launched in January 2016.
“The initiative is designed to develop infrastructure and connectivity in Asia and deepen regional cooperation for shared development,” Xi said.
From the 57 founding members to today’s membership of 102 spanning the six continents of Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America and Oceania, the AIIB has grown from strength to strength and provided nearly 20 billion U.S. dollars in infrastructure investment to its members.
Xi: Make globalization more inclusive, balanced
Xi noted that the AIIB set up a COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility this year to support its members in tackling the pandemic and reviving their economies, hailing it a “typical example of the AIIB’s power of action.”
“The global response to COVID-19 has made it clear that mankind rises and falls together in a community with a shared future,” he said. “Mutual support and cooperation in solidarity are the only way for mankind to overcome crises.”
The Chinese president called for efforts to “pursue more inclusive global governance, more effective multilateral institutions, and more robust regional cooperation” to address issues emerging in the course of economic globalization.
The AIIB should “stay open and inclusive” and “engage more development partners in cooperation,” Xi said, calling on the bank to promote regional economic integration and “help make economic globalization more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all.”
Underscoring the importance of innovation, he said the AIIB should strive to enhance connectivity, promote green development, and boost technological advance.
“China will continue working with other members to support the AIIB and make it a success, and contribute more to the global response to risks and challenges and the pursuit of shared development,” Xi said.
