Besides the 57 original founding member countries, a dozen new countries have applied to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) recently. It is now expected to number more than 70 member countries, exceeding the membership of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) which has been established for almost half a century.

The reason for the popularity of the AIIB lies in its philosophy. Statistics show that Asian infrastructure requires investment every year of about 700 to 800 billion dollars. Neither the World Bank (WB) nor ADB are qualified to serve such a big demand. The establishment of the AIIB is to cater to the urgent need for Asian infrastructure investment. The AIIB raises capital from Asia and the rest of the world to loan to its local members for infrastructure construction. Since Asia is now the most energetic region in world development, any effort that is dedicated to invigorate the development of Asia will be as useful as it is welcome.

As a result, the establishment of the AIIB not only flows in acordance with the laws of the market, but also represents commonweal for supporting development. It has a win-win system that serves both the lender and the borrower. Based on the AIIB platform, the fund provider and project builder can realize cooperation and mutual benefit. That is why people can find both developed European economies and developing Asian economies co-existing in the AIIB.

The AIIB is an organization that is Asian-based and world-oriented. According to its blueprint, the operation and development of the AIIB will serve not only Asia, but also the wider world. Its significance outweighs bilateral free trade areas (FTAs) as it even provides basic and logistical supports for FTAs.

AIIB, ADB, and WB are all the results of countries and people sharing and cooperating. China, Japan, the US etc. All develop in different ways; each is at a different stage of development, and they have their own strengths and weaknesses. But all of these countries share the urge for regional and world development. To make the third bank a world-class platform for development and cooperation, countries of the world should strengthen exchanges and learn from each other.

This article is edited and translated from 《亚投行魅力何在（望海楼）》，source: People's Daily, author: Shen Dingli