Jin Liqun reflects on tumult and triumphs in AIIB’s eventful first decade

A veteran of international finance, Jin Liqun is president and chair of the board of directors at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a multilateral development lender headquartered in Beijing and established in 2016. He has been closely involved in the Bank’s evolution since its inception, and was elected to a second and final five-year term in 2020.

Jin was among the first Chinese officials to gain direct experience in international finance in the 1980s, serving as alternate executive director for China at the World Bank. His distinguished career also includes senior roles at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), China International Capital Corporation Limited, and China Investment Corporation, as well as nearly two decades at China’s Ministry of Finance, where he rose to the position of vice-minister.

This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.

Over the last 10 years, AIIB has been financing physical and digital infrastructure across Asia and worldwide, and has made strong commitments to projects intended to combat climate change. How do you view the first decade of the bank’s operations?

In 2014 and 2015, the first two years when the bank was being conceptualised, we had 57 founding members working together to set it up. The basic idea was that development is a huge challenge, and while existing multilateral development banks (MDBs) have been doing wonderful things, there are still lots of things that have to be done. The idea was to create a new bank and to fill the gap, supplementing the efforts of existing institutions in promoting sustainable development in our member countries.

We have adhered to this basic mandate over the last 10 years. We have financed over US$60 billion in infrastructure, including support for the healthcare system during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The infrastructure needs of Asian countries have been estimated at around three to four trillion US dollars per year – a massive funding gap. No single MDB can fill this gap; it is simply not possible.

South China Morning Post