Turkey approves founding deal of China-led Asian bank

Turkey has ratified the establishment agreement of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which was signed in June 2015. 

According to a regulation, revealed in the Official Gazette on Jan. 12, Turkey will not pay more than $2.6 billion as the capital contribution to the bank. 

The Turkish cabinet has also been authorized to increase this amount by up to five times. 

Countries from five continents formally signed up on June 29, 2015, to the China-led AIIB, a potential rival to the Washington-based World Bank, as Beijing steps up its global diplomatic and economic role.

In April 2015, the Chinese finance ministry said the AIIB had accepted Turkey's application to join the bank as a founding state.

The AIIB has been viewed by some as a rival to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, and the United States and Japan, the world's largest and third-largest economies, respectively, have notably declined to join.

Beijing will be by far the largest AIIB shareholder at about 30 percent, the articles of association posted on the website of China's finance ministry showed. India is the second biggest at 8.4 percent with Russia third on 6.5 percent, as reported by AFP in June 2015. 

Among non-Asian participants, Germany is the largest shareholder with 4.5 percent, followed by France with 3.4 percent and Brazil at 3.2 percent.
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