China to establish rival to World Bank

China is actively working to establish a new global financial institution to rival the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, which Beijing fears are too influenced by the US and its allies.

According to the London daily Financial Times, 22 countries across the region, including several wealthy states in the Middle East, have shown interest in the multilateral lender, which would be known as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank or AIIB.

In the past few weeks, Beijing has taken the initiative to double the size of registered capital for the proposed bank to $100bn, the daily reports.

China is of the opinion that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund do not provide China with required working conditions. This is the reason why this country wants to establish its own international bank to control.

It would initially focus on building a new version of the “silk road”, the ancient trade route that once connected Europe to China.

Most of the funding for the implementation of these plans will be provided by China, says Financial Times.