Jin Liqun, president-designate of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, receives an interview on the sideline of a conference organized by the Boao Forum for Asia in London on Monday.[Photo by Zhang Chunyan/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will set up an ethics integrity department and encourage employees to report to stamp out corruption, said Jin Liqun, president-designate of the institution.

The bank will launch its first projects in the second quarter of next year, Jin said, adding that projects will focus on electricity, transportation and water supply, as these are in high demand.

Jin vowed to take a "zero tolerance" approach toward corruption in the AIIB at a conference organized by the Boao Forum for Asia in London on Monday.

"In the future we will set up an ethics integrity department to inspect corruption," Jin told China Daily, adding that the leader of the department must have a good reputation.

"In order to avoid any conflict of interests, we cannot have a Chinese to be the leader of the integrity department when the bank president is a Chinese. It does not mean that Chinese officials are not good enough to be at this position, but we need to avoid skepticism."

Jin said that the president cannot lay off the leader of the integrity department without providing the board with concrete evidence. This is to avoid the president having absolute power, or else the leader of the integrity department will not to report any improper behavior of the president.

Also, employees will be encouraged to report corrupt behavior in the bank, Jin said, adding that once such an infringement was confirmed, the person responsible for it would be disciplined.

The AIIB was proposed by China two years ago and is due to launch by the end of the year.

As a former Chinese vice-finance minister and veteran of development banks such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, Jin was named the inaugural president in August.

The AIIB will be built into a new type of development bank with first-class standards, Jin noted. However, he said that "the best international standard" do not equal Western standards.