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China has appointed a former anti-corruption officer, known as the “Tiger-Fighting Lady General”, to lead the Asian infrastructure investment bank, Beijing’s answer to the World Bank.
Jiayi, a former vice-finance minister and high official in the anti-corruption organ of the Chinese Communist Party, would be elected president of the AIIB on Tuesday during a meeting of the board of directors.
She was the only nominee for the role and will replace the founder of the AIIB president Jin Luqun, who will resign in January after a decade sent the Development Bank-blurred Development Bank.
Who is called a “Tiger-fighting Lady General” in the Chinese state media, would be known in the Permanent Committee of the Chinese Central Commission for Discipline Inspectorate, the anti-graph organ of the CCP, which has a reputation for investigating senior officials, or “tigers”.
She is also deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese Political Consultative Committee, the government’s advisory body.
The leadership transition comes at a crucial moment for Beijing, while the efforts initiate to realize Europe and emerging economies and present themselves as a reliable partner in the midst of the disruption of the trade war of US President Donald Trump.
The AIIB was founded in 2016 as the center of China’s efforts to reform international development financing. It has 110 Member States, including the VK, Germany, France, Canada and Australia, as well as Russia, India and developing countries, but not the US, who warned that the lender could serve as an arm of Chinese geopolitical influence.
China is the largest stakeholder of the AIIB, which has approximately 27 percent of his voice share and contributes 30 percent of his almost $ 100 billion in capital.
Trump has ordered an assessment of American support for international organizations, and the fear of deep financing reductions or the withdrawal of Washington from institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF.
This has resulted in the prospect of an increased dependence on rivals such as the AIIB, which has approved more than 300 projects worth more than $ 60 billion, mainly infrastructure such as bridges, roads and energy companies.
Jin, the departing chief of the AIIB, had previously worked at the World Bank and the Chinese Ministry of Finance. He is credited to send the lender by recent geopolitical turbulence, including the war in Ukraine, so that it suspends all activities related to Russia and Wit -Russia.
In a sign of the growing ambitions of the bank, it is now investigating new regional hubs, including in Singapore and Hong Kong, Jin said in an interview with The Financial Times, after opening his first overseas office in Abu Dhabi two years ago.
The AIIB has also deviated from traditional developers by offering fewer loans to favorable conditions to low -income countries.
Jin acknowledged that a decrease in such financing worldwide would demand changes from traditional lenders, with which the AIIB has also worked closely on many projects.
“It will encourage borrowers and lenders to do better financing,” he said, adding that the AIIB wanted to concentrate on projects that “can be on their own two feet and generate income”.
Jin also said that “doubts” about the dominance of Beijing of the institution were out of place. European partners “can play a major role” in the bank, he said, adding that the door “has been hurled and opened” for the American participation.
