Govt, business and academic leaders discuss how institution will operate

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will set up an ethics integrity department and encourage whistleblowers to ensure there is no corruption, according to Jin Liqun, its president-designate.

He told a conference in London organized by the Boao Forum for Asia Financial Cooperation Conference that corruption would not be tolerated in the bank, which will launch its first projects in the second quarter of next year. These projects will focus on electricity, transport and water supply, because these are in high demand, Jin said.

Jin Liqun (right), president-designate of the AIIB, at an event on Nov 9 in London organized by the Boao Forum for Asia Financial Cooperation Conference. Karen Kwok / For China Daily

The bank, proposed by China two years ago, is due to officially open in the next few weeks.

The conference in London, on Nov 9 and 10, brought together more than 400 government, business and academic leaders from 22 Asian and European countries.

The issues they looked at included structural reform for Asia-Europe financial collaboration, global financial governance, diversification of the international monetary system and opportunities from the Belt and Road Initiative and Asia-Europe financial collaboration.

The bank would run as a "lean, clean and green" multilateral lender, Jin said.

"We will set up an ethics integrity department to inspect corruption," he told China Daily, adding that it was critical that the department's leader be of unblemished character.

"To avoid conflict of interest, a Chinese cannot be the leader of the integrity department when the bank president is Chinese. That does not mean Chinese officials are not good enough to hold this position, but we need to avoid skepticism."

The president would be unable to dismiss the integrity department head without good reason, he says. This would act as a check on the president's power and ensure he or she is as accountable as anyone else.

Employees will be encouraged to report corrupt behavior, he said, and firm measures would be taken against any guilty party.

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

The institution will be built into a new type of development bank with first-class standards, Jin says. However, he says that "the best international standard" does not mean Western standards.

"We are working on establishing this bank and our standards, which must draw on the experience of both developed and developing countries, especially China."