BEIJING With the launch of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, China has taken the first step toward building a new financial order in Asia, part of its quest to become a global power rivaling the U.S. Beijing is hoping to pull new members into the AIIB by dangling funds for badly needed infrastructure in front of developing countries.
China is the biggest contributor to the AIIB, chipping in around 30% of the bank's $100 billion in capital and holding 26% of the voting rights. That gives Beijing effective veto power over the bank's decisions. It managed to get the bank up and running a little more than two years after President Xi Jinping first proposed setting up a new international lender to finance infrastructure projects in October 2013.
