CRI听力:China-led Asia Infrastructure Bank Attracts 21 Countries

The investment bank was launched Friday in Beijing at a ceremony attended by Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei and delegates from countries including India, Thailand and Malaysia.

Lou says the AIIB is complementary to existing multilateral development banks.

"The main goal of the AIIB is not to alleviate poverty, but to invest in infrastructure development and to realize a connection between Asian countries."

The new bank reflects both China's desire to push investment in the region and its frustration with American, European and Japanese dominance of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Asian Development Bank.

Philippa Jones, Managing director of China Policy, an economic and political research consultancy, explains:

"Certainly the current system isn't fulfilling its needs. Whether you talk of it as a challenge, or whether you talk of it as an alternative, these countries need to manage their finances, they need access to money and as they are not going to get it from the current banking infrastructure, they are going to start developing their own."

Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting with the delegates after the signing ceremony and expressed his hope to deepen cooperation among Asian countries through the bank.

"We would like to set up a very interactive and very meaningful exchange among all the multi-lateral financial platforms and for the AIIB, we would like to have it become an inclusive, highly-effective and well-connected financial innovation to boost economic cooperation in Asia and also to contribute to world economic prosperity."

Meantime, China said it will provide most if not all of the initial 50 billion US dollars in capital and will fund the construction of roads, railways, power plants and telecommunications networks in Asia.

Three major players including Australia, South Korea and Indonesia did not show up in the launch of new regional bank.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a crucial part of Beijing's efforts to extend its influence in the region, but China said it would not pursue a dominant role.

As agreed, Beijing will be the host city for the AIIB's headquarters.

It is expected that the prospective founding members will complete the signing and ratification of the Articles of Agreement in 2015 and the AIIB will be formally established by the end of 2015.

For CRI, this is Luo Bin.