By Sun Meng
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) had expanded its funds under the COVID-19 Crisis RecoveryFacility to $13 billion, and already provided $5.9 billion worth of funds to 12 countries by the end of July.
It has recently provided Pakistan with a loan of $250 million to help the country combat the pandemic, approved a loan of €45 million to help the Georgian government cushion the impact of the virus, and loaned $100 million to the commercial banks in Vietnam to facilitate the economic recovery of the companies in the country.
This is the first time that the AIIB has participated in the global governance of a major public health emergency. It is quite clear that the institution has played a positive role in fundraising, providing relief and restoring social and economic order.
Besides achieving great results in response to the epidemic, the AIIB has played a unique part in promoting economic growth and global development since it was officially launched in January 2016. It has also brought new ideas, mechanisms and practices for global governance to the table and been widely recognized and praised by the world.
The AIIB serves as a good example of practicing multilateralism and adhering to cooperation for mutual benefits.
In recent years, currents of anti-globalizationsuch as unilateralism and protectionism have impacted the international order and weakened the effectiveness of global governance.
To address issues emerging in the course of economic globalization, countries should pursue more inclusive global governance, more effective multilateral institutions, and more robust regional cooperation.
Shouldering the responsibility of a major country, China has facilitated the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and initiated the establishment of the AIIB, which proves to be an important part of multilateral mechanisms, providing a new service platform for promoting cooperation among different regions and connecting developed and developing countries.
While stimulating global economic growth through multilateral mechanisms, the AIIB aims to help make global governance more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all.
The AIIB has createda new mechanism for global governance.The new-type cooperative partnership established under the AIIB has not only enriched the global governance system, but complemented and developed in harmony with multilateral mechanisms such as the World Bank and the United Nations (UN), becoming an important link in global governance.
Amid the global fight against the epidemic, the AIIB has actively provided members with financing services in public health and economy and focused on expanding the infrastructure investment for Asian countries in such fields as public health, medical care, and information and communication technology, effectively helping members strengthen their ability ofresisting crises and resume economic construction.
Such contributions of the AIIB have mirrored its power of action, effectiveness as well as the practical benefits that it has brought to the members.
Through innovative practices, the AIIB aims to help with global poverty reduction and promote sustainable development.
Targeted at serving developing countries, the AIIB makes it itsresponsibility to eradicate poverty and has strived to inject vitality into the economic development of these countries.
The investment projects provided by the AIIB for countries and regions along the Belt and Road have broken the development bottleneck caused by lack of funds in these countries.
By facilitating infrastructure construction andrealizing interconnectivity, the AIIB hopes to build and strengthen the capacity of people along the Belt and Road on poverty alleviation and development and endeavors to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN.
Robert Zoellick, former president ofthe World Bank, noted that the AIIB has set a good example in the world in terms of governance, transparency, international standards and cooperation.
In today’s world, no country can deal with the challenges facing global governance all by itself.
Mankind rises and falls together in a community with a shared future. Mutual support and cooperation in solidarity are the only way for mankind to overcome common crises.
As 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 boasts broad development prospects and will surely make greater contributions to global governance.
