China’s President Xi Jinping reiterates his support for multilateral cooperation

CNBC reports that China’s President Xi Jinping affirmed his country’s commitment to working with others, as he pushed for the cementing of the role of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in the global economic governance system.

“Let us stay open and inclusive and make the AIIB a new paradigm of multilateral cooperation,” Xi said Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the the Chinese development bank’s annual meeting, which was held virtually this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Xi called on the bank to “grow into a new platform that promotes development for all its members and facilitates the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.”

The AIIB has provided nearly $20 billion in infrastructure investment to its members since its launch in 2016, said Xi. Seen as a rival to the U.S.-led World Bank and Japan-led Asian Development Bank, the AIIB currently has 102 members from Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas.

“Under the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, the AIIB needs to respond to adjustments and changes in the global economic landscape and engage more development partners in cooperation,” Xi said in Beijing at the start of the two-day event.

“It needs to provide public goods for our region and beyond, push for regional economic integration, and help make economic globalization more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all,” Xi said, according to an official translation from the bank.