AIIB: 'lean, clean, green'

China is building the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to help other Asian countries and the rest of the world, and the bank will be "lean, clean and green", Jin Liqun, president-designate of the lender, said on Wednesday.

"The idea to create a new type of development bank is very straight forward, that is, to promote a broad-based development in Asia," he said in a keynote speech titled Building Asia's New Bank at the Brookings Institute in Washington. Jin spoke to an audience of about 300 and scores more listened to the live broadcast.

By having a "lean, clean and green" AIIB, Jin said he means that the bank will seek governance to the highest possible measurement, develop a green economy and fully fight possible corruption inside AIIB.

Asked by David Dollar, senior fellow at the foreign policy and global economic development program at Brookings, about how the AIIB will take actions to avoid the "slow and bureaucratic" problem that the World Bank is having right now, Jin said it will depend on governance.

He said they depend on avoiding such problems on governance, and the rigorous implementation of the governance. "To stay lean is certainly not that easy. It like a human body and you have to go to the fitness center every day to stay fit. So we have to go to the fitness center as an institution, which means to makes sure that we have no redundant positions," he said.

"A new type of bank is taking shape in the 21st century with a new way of governance," he said.

The China-led AIIB will focus on supporting infrastructure construction for countries in the Asia-Pacific region. It will have total capital of $100 billion, with member countries contributing up to 75 percent.

In saying that the AIIB will aim to help other Asian countries, Jin said part of the cause of poverty in Asian countries is due to connectivity problems and inefficiency in constructing infrastructure. The AIIB can support infrastructure construction to help connect transportation and trade between the member countries.

"Infrastructure has paved the way for China's taking-off over the past three decades," he said.

Jin quoted President Xi Jinping when Xi met with finance ministers of the 57 founding members of AIIB: "China has benefited from the general support from the World Bank and IMF, and the Chinese people will never forget this. Now it is our time to contribute."

zhangyue@chinadaily.com.cn