Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Earth Science News .




POLITICAL ECONOMY
China-led bank starts with 57 members, Norway included
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) April 15, 2015


A total of 57 countries have been approved as founding members of a Chinese-backed infrastructure bank, Beijing said Wednesday, and Norway is included despite frosty relations over a Chinese dissident's Nobel prize.

No nations that formally sought to become founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are known to have been refused. But Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing regards as part of its territory, had its application for founding membership rejected.

The last seven countries approved as founding members by Wednesday's deadline were named by China's finance ministry as Sweden, Israel, South Africa, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Portugal and Poland.

The 57 include four of the United Nations Security Council's permanent five, 14 of the 28 European Union countries, and 21 members of the 34-strong Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The line-up does not include the United States or Japan but represents a diplomatic coup for China after close US allies such as Britain, France, Germany and Australia decided to take part even after Washington initially opposed them signing up.

The institution is aimed at financing infrastructure across Asia rather than poverty reduction, and China's official news agency Xinhua said in a commentary that it offered Western countries "lucrative business opportunities".

"Welcoming passengers from around the world, an 'Oriental Express' train is getting ready to hit the rails toward a destination of common development and win-win cooperation," it said.

The AIIB would "have a zero-tolerance policy on corruption" and "abide by stringent policies to avoid repeating past mistakes", Xinhua added.

But critics have expressed concern about its standards and say it could rival the US-led World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, which is headed by Japan.

US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker stressed the importance of such benchmarks to reporters in Shanghai.

"We welcome the AIIB as long as it adheres to the international standards that have been set by the existing multi-lateral organisations like the IMF, the World Bank or the ADB," she said.

"If operated under those kind of standards, in fact I think there is enormous opportunity for collaboration."

- 'Open and transparent' -

China has repeatedly said the institution is "open and inclusive". It approved Norway despite cutting all high-level ties with Oslo after the Nobel Peace Prize went to Liu Xiaobo in 2010.

The Norwegian government has repeatedly maintained that the Nobel Committee is independent and makes its own choices, but Chinese authorities have torpedoed any attempts at normalising relations.

China, since the end of the civil war in 1949, has seen Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting unification and so opposes international recognition for it.

But Beijing has said it would welcome the island joining later "under an appropriate name".

Shi Yaobin, a vice finance minister who is chairing the negotiations to set up the bank, said in a statement Wednesday that although the founding members had been finalised, the institution would "continue to accept new members in the future".

The founding members will hold two preparatory meetings in Beijing and Singapore and sign the bank's articles of agreement by the end of June, he said.

The member states will choose AIIB's first president after the launch, he said, adding senior executives will be hired in an "open and transparent" manner.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
The Economy






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News





POLITICAL ECONOMY
China March consumer inflation steady at 1.4%: govt
Beijing (AFP) April 10, 2015
Chinese inflation held steady at 1.4 percent in March, the government said Friday, leaving policymakers further room for monetary stimulus as they try to manage a broad slowdown in the world's second-biggest economy. The consumer price index (CPI) reading from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) was the same as February, when it rose from January's more than five-year low and slightly b ... read more


POLITICAL ECONOMY
Honeywell emergency signal tracking system passes testing

Aid agencies ready for Yemeni refugee influx in Horn of Africa

Chemical plant blast, anti-pollution protest in China

Radiation from Fukushima detected off Canada west coast

POLITICAL ECONOMY
Largest database of elastic properties accelerates material science

Raytheon expands radar production facility

Upgrade in works for Norway's counter-battery radar

Physicists create new molecule with record-setting dipole moment

POLITICAL ECONOMY
Young sea turtles don't just drift, they swim

Thousands of goldfish taking over lake in Colorado

Dynamic dead zones alter fish catches in Lake Erie

Unusual cancer spreads among clams off N. America

POLITICAL ECONOMY
Gradual, prolonged permafrost greenhouse gas emissions forecast

Western Canada to lose 70 percent of glaciers by 2100

Alaska animals could experience habitat change from warming climate

Sea Shepherd in dramatic rescue of Antarctic 'poaching' ship crew

POLITICAL ECONOMY
More food, low pollution effort gains traction

Fishing amplifies forage fish collapses

Living mulch, organic fertilizer tested on broccoli

Liquid corn, fish fertilizers 'good options' for organic blackberry production

POLITICAL ECONOMY
Costa Rica volcano throws up fiery rocks and ash: authorities

Typhoon Maysak melts away as it hits Philippines

Haiti floods kill six, damage thousands of homes

Chile's Bachelet visits flood-hit north after 25 killed

POLITICAL ECONOMY
Holdout Mali rebels refuse to initial peace accord

Pygmies demand end to discrimination in DR Congo

Nigerian president quits voting station after tech glitch

Regional troops retake Nigerian town from Boko Haram

POLITICAL ECONOMY
Ancient human fossils from Laos reveal early diversity

The rest of the brain gets in the way

If your kid hates school, it just may be their genes

'Little Foot' 3.67 million years old




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.