Five key issues to watch

Who will be the first president of the bank?

One prominent contender is Jin Liqun, the head of the Multilateral Interim Secretariat of the AIIB.

He has been described by colleagues as "an experienced, savvy, pragmatic guy" who did much of the backdoor negotiating that persuaded key economies including the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and South Korea to join the new bank.

What is the shareholding structure and will China waive veto power?

The AIIB has made it clear that GDP will be the basic criterion in determining share allocations among members, and when allocating shares, it will treat Asian nations and non-Asian nations differently. Asian nations will hold a combined stake of 75 to 80 percent, Caijing magazine has reported.

Under this arrangement, China will not have a 50 percent share in the new bank. By comparison, the United States only has a 17.4 percent share in the International Monetary Fund but retains veto power. There have been no indications that China will follow that model.

How will seats on the board of directors be allocated?

Some media reports have said that one reason major European nations rushed to join the AIIB was that they were offered seats by appointment. Caijing magazine previously reported that, as with shareholdings, GDP will be the key determinant, although balance among geographic regions will also be considered.

Will the yuan be included in the AIIB's currency basket?

Analysts have said that doing so would give a big boost to the yuan's internationalization. The South China Morning Post, citing unidentified think tank sources, reported on April 14 that China will push for the yuan to be included in the basket of currencies used for AIIB lending and repayment.

Will the US and Japan join?

The two countries are the only major economies that do not appear on the final list of founding members. It is possible that they will eventually join. Japan is "actively examining" the issue and its finance ministry has conducted a study of the matter, the Kyodo News Agency reported.

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said he will discuss the issue with his Chinese counterpart during a bilateral dialogue in June. He said that China first needs to establish terms for governance of the AIIB.

Canada is also studying the possibility of joining the AIIB.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 04/17/2015 page22)