European development bank approves China’s application to become shareholder
Move gives Beijing another foothold in an international organisation and it will benefit indirectly through bank’s projects in nations such as Kazakhstan that overlap its ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has accepted China as a shareholder, another step forward in Beijing’s ambitions to widen its international influence.
The green light by the bank’s governors announced on Monday gives China a token but symbolic 0.1 per cent stake in the EBRD and a new way of extending its global reach after its recent steps to boost trade links with Europe and Asia.
READ MORE: China applies to join European development bank as it bids to increase global financial clout
It also gives China – the 65th EBRD shareholder country – another foothold in an international organisation.
“China’s membership of the EBRD will open up significant further opportunities for sustainable investment by Chinese groups in the regions where the EBRD works,” an EBRD statement said, quoting the bank’s president, Suma Chakrabarti.
Set up in 1991 to invest in the former Soviet bloc countries of eastern Europe, the EBRD has expanded its reach in recent years. It now invests in Mongolia, Turkey and the economies affected by the Arab Spring, such as Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan.
More recently, it added euro-zone crisis countries Greece and Cyprus to its list. Lebanon is also expected to become a member country in the coming days.
China, though, will only be providing rather than receiving money with its new membership. It may, however, benefit through EBRD projects in countries such as Kazakhstan that overlap with its “One Belt, One Road” initiative.