The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international financial institution that aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region. The bank was proposed as an initiative by the government of China,[3] supported by 37 regional and 20 non-regional Prospective Founding Members (PFM), all of which have signed the Articles of Agreement that form the legal basis for the proposed bank. The bank will start operation after the agreement enters into force, which requires ratifications from 10 member states holding a total number of 50% of the initial subscriptions of the Authorized Capital Stock.[4] On 25 December 2015, 17 states (Australia, Austria, Brunei, China, Georgia, Germany, Jordan, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea and the United Kingdom) together holding 50.1% of the initial subscriptions of Authorized Capital Stock, had deposited the instrument of ratification for the agreement, triggering entry into force, and making them all founding members[5] and bringing the Articles of Agreement, the bank's charter, into force. 12 other states followed later, taking the amount of Authorized Capital Stock held by the 29 members of the bank to 74%. Major economies that did not become PFM include the United States, Japan and Canada.The United Nations has addressed the launch of AIIB as having potential for "scaling up financing for sustainable development"[6] for the concern of global economic governance.[7] The capital of the bank is $100 billion, equivalent to 2⁄3 of the capital of the Asian Development Bank and about half that of the World Bank.[8]
The bank was proposed by China in 2013[9] and the initiative was launched at a ceremony in Beijing in October 2014.[10]
