BEIJING — Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Thursday urged the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to increase its support for Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
“I hope that the AIIB will stay committed to open regionalism and persevere in promoting connection and communication among Asian countries and countries across the world,” Li said in Mandarin through an official English translation.
“It is important to strengthen the synergy between the bank and the Belt and Road Initiative and Global Development Initiative,” Li said, referring to two Beijing-led programs.
His speech at the opening ceremony of the bank’s 10th annual meeting comes amid a pullback of U.S. support for Western-led institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which U.S. President Donald Trump claims unfairly benefit other nations.
Premier Li’s “comments signal China’s ongoing attempts to capitalize on the chaos caused by Trump’s trade and economic policies,” said Stephen Olson, a visiting senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and a former U.S. trade negotiator.
“China is also very aware that the U.S. is trying to pressure countries to tilt away from China (as we saw in the U.K. trade deal) and this is part of its strategy to counteract those efforts,” Olson said in an email.
Under Chinese President Xi Jinping, now in his third term, China launched a regional development program called the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013.
The program is widely viewed as Beijing’s effort to boost its global influence through the development of rail, sea and other transportation routes connecting Asia to Europe and Africa. Critics argue that China’s massive infrastructure project has forced developing nations to take on high debt while benefiting Chinese companies, often state-owned entities.
Xi subsequently announced a broader “Global Development Initiative” in 2021 to promote Beijing-led efforts around poverty alleviation, public health and food security, aligned with the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The AIIB this week announced that Zou Jiayi, a former Chinese vice finance minister, will become its next president starting in January. Zou also previously represented China as an alternate governor at the World Bank. The former anti-corruption official is also a member of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, the third-highest circle of power in the country.