AIIB

Chinese President Xi Jinping launched a new international development bank seen as a rival to the U.S.-led World Bank at a lavish ceremony on Jan. 16, as Beijing seeks to change the unwritten rules of global development finance. 

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. 

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and business leaders are due to return on Oct. 28 evening from a week-long tour of Central Asia after striking business deals worth more than $26 billion.

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

The Australian government on June 24 said it would contribute A$930 million ($718.9 million) over five years to the new China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), making it the  institution's sixth largest shareholder. 

Japan will announce a $100 billion plan to invest in roads, bridges, railways and other building projects in Asia, a report said May 19, weeks after China outlined its vision for a new infrastructure development bank in the region.

Iran has been approved as a founding member of the Beijing-backed Asian Infrastructure Bank (AIIB), China's finance ministry said Tuesday, just days after Tehran sealed a historic framework agreement on its nuclear programme.
      

Since the end of the Cold War, the international system has been fluctuating. While the bipolar system has ended, no equivalent is in place yet. In the early days of the post-Cold War era, some talked about the unipolar moment as the United States dominated the world with its unrivalled economic and military power.

The president of the World Bank said on March 13 he welcomed the setting up of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a day after Britain became the first Western nation to embrace the institution.