The AIIB will benefit both Asia and the world

By Pang Zhongying
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, March 23, 2015
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The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral financial institution proposed by China for financing infrastructure projects in Asia. With the deadline to apply to become a founding member set at the end of March 2015, the bank has caused a strong and lively response from Asia and beyond.

The United States is oversensitive

The World Bank is a symbol of global public property and economic governance aiming to promote development, and is not directly linked to any financial market. Those observers who regard the AIIB as its rival are absolutely wrong.

China hasn't sought to control and, indeed, cannot control the AIIB. The United States is being oversensitive in this regard. After some European countries, as well as other U.S. allies applied to become founding members of AIIB, it will become impossible for China to control the bank.

In various statements and documents, including the Joint Declaration published by the BRICS Summit, China has repeatedly stressed it is not seeking to "challenge" the existing international rules and global institutions (especially the IMF and the World Bank). And that really means it "won't challenge" the American and European countries' dominance of these institutions.

At a press conference held for the annual sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on March 8, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reiterated this point. Challenging the status quo is not the intention of the AIIB and the "Belt and Road" initiatives and other economic projects promoted by China.

Instead of being an international (global) economic rule maker, China has merely "followed and implemented." However, like many aspiring countries on the rise, China wants to play an important role in the formulation of international rules, and this is normal.

Can the AIIB help China to become an international rule maker? My answer is no. Just as China sought to improve its "voting rights" in IMF reform, the AIIB can only increase China's contribution and not its power. In reality, contribution does not often come with a matching power.

China is working hard to build a "new model for a major-country relationship" with the United States. Many people think China seeks an equal footing; but actually it just wants the United States to treat China more equally and reasonably. After the United States urged China to become a "responsible stakeholder" in the existing international system in 2005, China has been taking substantial actions to be a responsible stakeholder, including initiating the AIIB.

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