Photo: Courtesy of Xu Weihong

As 2026 begins, geopolitical tensions in regions such as Venezuela and Greenland continue to intensify. Against the backdrop of multiple shocks, many institutions have issued pessimistic forecasts for global economic growth this year. Amid rising market uncertainty, long-term, value-oriented investors are increasingly turning their attention to Asia, focusing on an economic landscape characterized by relatively healthy growth. 

Against the backdrop of all this, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) marks the 10th anniversary of its establishment on January 16. Deeply engaged in infrastructure development across Asia and committed to empowering regional growth, the AIIB now stands at a critical juncture.

Compared with Europe, the US, and Africa, Asia is the only region to have sustained large-scale infrastructure investment over the past decade and beyond. Infrastructure such as ports, railways and power plants not only forms the foundation for poverty reduction and economic development, but also serves as a critical bridge for countries seeking deeper integration into the regional economies and the global market. Within the broader context of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Asian countries have been among the earliest and most significant beneficiaries of the infrastructure investment.

Over the past decade, the AIIB has built a strong and credible track record. Its membership has expanded from an initial 57 to the current 111 economies, its operating model has matured, and its multi-currency financing capacity has continued to strengthen, providing indispensable support for regional development and multilateral cooperation. 

Public data show that by the end of 2024, AIIB-supported projects had financed more than 51,000 kilometers of transport infrastructure, equivalent to about 1.28 laps around the Earth's equator, benefiting more than 410 million people. In addition, the bank has supported the installation of 21.3 million kilowatts of renewable energy capacity, backed energy projects that reduce nearly 30 million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions annually, and helped provide safer drinking water to approximately 8.71 million people.

After the infrastructure is put in place, the next step is development, and sustained long-term growth ultimately depends on strengthening internal capabilities. Under the BRI, China has actively promoted the establishment of supporting financial systems, giving full play to finance's role in serving the real economy and improving the resource allocation. In other words, the AIIB investment projects not only emphasize the capital security and the efficient use of funds, but also align closely with the long-term development trajectories of host countries.

This reflects an innovative application of the development economics in global governance, as well as a practical pathway for China's vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind: promoting regional connectivity and economic integration while advancing development and improving livelihoods across the participating countries.

The Asian financial crisis of 1997 dealt a heavy blow to the economies such as Indonesia and Thailand, prompting them to recognize the risks associated with property bubbles, excessive leverage, and exchange-rate volatility, and to take a more balanced view of the costs and benefits of international capital flows.

The story told by the AIIB over the past decade is different. Under the financial arrangements represented by the AIIB, trade between China and ASEAN member countries has continued to expand, in turn driving mutual investment in production capacity cooperation. At the same time, there has been no rush toward capital-account liberalization or cross-border leveraging of financial flows, allowing both sides to contain financial risks through real-economy cooperation and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.

The mutually beneficial effects of such cooperation are evident. For China, the robust real-economy growth in ASEAN and across Asia enables Chinese enterprises to expand investment across a broader geographic landscape. In the context of the US' new round of zero-sum thinking, China's ability to respond with confidence is inseparable from Asia's growing connectivity and integrated trade, as well as from the cross-border, development-oriented financial arrangements such as the AIIB.

For Asian countries, what China has brought is a pragmatic approach that prioritizes infrastructure development as a foundation for growth - a clear pathway centered on infrastructure development and production-capacity cooperation. Financial arrangements are not treated as a precondition for real-economy project cooperation. This stands in sharp contrast to the approach taken by Europe and the US over the past several centuries, which relied on financial control and the exploitation of the developing countries.

Looking ahead, Asian countries that have already reaped the benefits of development will continue to pursue pragmatic industrial-chain upgrades, placing higher demands on cross-border financial service institutions such as the AIIB. As the use of the yuan in global cross-border settlements and investments rises, the need for stable benchmark interest rates, exchange-rate stability, and mechanisms to curb arbitrage will grow. This will raise the bar for the risk-management capabilities of financial centers like Shanghai and Hong Kong.


The author is chief economist of the China Academy of Invention Achievement Transformation. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn