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Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
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Delegates met in Singapore to discuss how the bank will be run. Photo: Xinhua

Update | China to take 'up to 30 per cent stake' in AIIB development bank

Proposal put forward at a meeting of the lender's founders to discuss the running of the international development bank, according to sources

China will probably take a 25-30 per cent stake in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and India is likely to be the second-largest shareholder, delegates attending a meeting of the lender’s founding members said on Friday.

The bank will also be operational by the end of this year, prospective founding members said after a three-day meeting in Singapore to discuss policies.

 The articles of agreement are expected to be “ready for signing by the end of June and the AIIB would be operational by the end of this year,” the statement said.

 “In the three-day meeting, the chief negotiators also discussed the draft environmental and social framework and draft procurement policy framework, among other topics,” it added. 

The meeting in Singapore, the fifth round of talks since the bank was mooted in October, was co-chaired by Shi Yaobin, China’s vice-minister of finance, and Yee Ping Yi, deputy secretary of Singapore’s finance ministry.

The three-day meeting aimed to finalised the draft articles of agreement that would decide the share of member countries and the bank’s initial capital.

A third delegate said the talks have ended and now each country representative would take the proposals back to their governments for a final decision. There was no immediate comment from the bank or Chinese officials on the discussions in Singapore.

The group of prospective founding members throws together countries as diverse as Iran, Israel, Britain and Laos.

The United States and Japan have stayed out of the China-led institution, seen as a rival to the US-dominated World Bank and Japan-led Asian Development Bank, based in Manila, citing concerns about transparency and governance. Tokyo, though, is keeping its options open.

The bank’s launch is coming at a time when the space for infrastructure lending is already crowded due to the presence of major multilateral lenders and Japan’s latest move to provide US$110 billion for Asian infrastructure projects.

The amount of Japanese funds, to be invested over five years, tops the expected US$100 billion capitalisation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

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