China nominates Jin Liqun AIIB's president-designate

Jin Liqun (L), secretary general of the Multilateral Interim Secretariat of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), shakes hands with China's Finance Minister Lou Jiwei ahead of a signing ceremony of articles of agreement of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, June 29, 2015. [Photo/CFP]

China on Monday nominated Jin Liqun as the president-designate of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). A selection process for president-designate was agreed upon in the Special Ministerial Meeting of Prospective Founding Members in Beijing on June 29, 2015.

Jin, secretary general of the Multilateral Interim Secretariat for Establishing the AIIB, has an outstanding leadership record in the public and private sectors, and multilateral development institutions, including serving as Chinese deputy finance minister, vice-president and ranking vice-president of the Asian Development Bank, chairman of the Supervisory Board of China Investment Corporation, and chairman of China International Capital Corporation Limited, according to a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Finance.

According to provisions as provided in the Articles of Agreement of the AIIB, which was adopted by the 5th Chief Negotiators' Meeting, the president of the AIIB shall be elected through an open, transparent and merit-based process. The president should be a national of a regional member.

To provide for continuity of leadership through the bank's establishment process and its early years and to enable the bank to be set up and start operations soon after its establishment, the bank's 57 prospective founding members have agreed to select a president-designate as early as possible, and agreed on the selection process in the Special Ministerial Meeting on June 29.

The deadline for nominations for president-designate is July 31, 2015, according to the agreed process. The 6th Chief Negotiators' Meeting of the prospective founding members, to be held in late August, will select the president-designate. The president-designate is expected to be elected as president by the Board of Governors at its inaugural meeting through process as provided in the Articles of Agreement.

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AIIB to establish right standards for multilateral development banks from Xinhua

As representatives of the 50 prospective founding countries of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on Monday gathered in Beijing for the agreement signing ceremony, a former World Bank official said that the new institution could seize the opportunity to establish right standards for multilateral development banks.

"I think the formulation of AIIB is moving in a right direction, " Yukon Huang, a former World Bank's country director for China and a senior associate with the Asia Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Xinhua in an interview, referring to the China-initiated international financial institution to fund infrastructure projects in Asia.

While there are concerns whether the AIIB will adhere to the " highest standards" of existing institution such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Huang argued that "the AIIB has the potential to help improve the governance structures of multilateral agencies in general."

The objective of the AIIB is not to simply follow the supposedly "highest standards" but to make use of this opportunity to establish the "right standards", Huang said, noting that "the right standards always evolve over time."

The World Bank and the ADB have already modified their rules " concerning design of loans, concerning sensitive issues like the environment and treatment of social groups in projects, and procurement arrangements" over time, the former World Bank official added.

"So the AIIB has a very good opportunity," Huang said. "It doesn't begin with the predetermined set of rules and regulations. It can look around see what everyone is using ...it can bring in voices and opinions, and then it can come up designing something which I think really is the best at this time."