The Law And Governance Of The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which began operations in 2016 and now has an approved membership of eighty-four worldwide, has quickly become perhaps one of the world’s most promising agents of global economic development. With its firm commitments to the twenty-first century imperatives of cost-effectiveness, zero tolerance for corruption and active promotion of environmental sustainability, its clearly stated aims and requirements echo the goal of reform that other multilateral institutions are undertaking. This book is among the first to offer an incisive introduction to the AIIB’s law and governance, which are now essentially in place. From a perspective of Chinese multilateralism, which parts ways from the dominant twentieth-century Bretton Woods arrangements, the author provides in great depth the details of such elements of the Bank’s Articles of Agreement as the following: – non-resident board system; – procurement; – role of trust funds; – state-owned enterprises as private entities; – immunity; – dispute settlement; – accountability for involuntary resettlement and human rights violations; and – policy on prohibited practices. Throughout, the author provides deeply informed comparisons with such existing multilateral development banks as the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as with the World Trade Organization. He shows how the AIIB not only emulates but also innovates while continuing to collaborate closely with these institutions. He suggests what should be done to optimize governance, standards and operations of the AIIB together with these peer institutions in a mutually emulating manner. Lawyers and policymakers involved in international economic law and related fields will welcome this nuanced and in-depth description and analysis of the AIIB. Its concomitant analysis of political economy and global governance issues will be of interest to bankers, businesses, government officials and others looking for an overall understanding of multilateral development banking and China’s approach toward global governance in particular.

"Examines AIIB through the lens of its charter, focusing on its mandate, investment operations, membership, finance, governance, and institutional set-up. Text and tables record AIIB's governance and decisions through December 2017"--Abstract

This book reflects the latest legal development of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and makes direct and positive responses—it uses first-hand, authoritative information and makes insightful and persuasive analyses in addressing those concerns. In particular, this book provides nuanced analysis of the following topics: — capital allocation of the AIIB, in comparison with those of Bretton Woods institutions; — dynamic relationship between the shareholder board and management, a central topic of corporate governance for the AIIB and other MDBs; — AIIB’s environmental and social safeguards, including its frontier ESG portfolio investments, in comparison with the World Bank standards; — highly debatable issues relating to the interaction between AIIB, Belt and Road, and MCDF; — comparative study of state-owned enterprises in the laws of AIIB, WTO, ICSID, etc.. This book targets academics, students, policymakers, and business circles who are interested in AIIB, given the bank’s growing importance in the context of global economic governance reforms. First, the book is a must for those who are keen to gain insight into the AIIB. Ten years have passed since the debut of the idea of AIIB in 2013, and the topic has never retreated from the debate of the international community—a major concern is whether a China-led multilateral development bank (MDB) remains to be politically neutral, or professional, and can live up to high standards.

This second volume of the AIIB Yearbook of International Law examines a series of overarching themes and relationships regarding the role of international organizations in promoting effective dispute resolution.

This book assesses the strategic significance of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) by examining the logic of international power and order, historic trends in East Asian international relations, the AIIB's design in comparison to 'rival' financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, recent tendencies in Chinese foreign policy, and the Chinese system of political economy. It focuses on how China 'constructs' international arrangements at a critical juncture in history compared to other great powers, especially the United States and Japan. Viewed in isolation, the AIIB does not represent a radical departure from the existing international order; it is a hybrid institution built on China's integration into the West-dominated international structure and conditioned by the global financial market. But the AIIB does draw in part from a different institutional lineage, a different historical root, and a different national system of political economy. In this context, China's greater success will constitute a partial change to the existing international order, whatever the Chinese intention.

Studying the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) through the lens of international relations (IR) theory, Chen argues that it is inappropriate to treat the AIIB as either a revisionist or a complementary institution. Instead, the bank is still evolving and the interaction of power, interests, and status that will determine whether the bank will go wild. Theoretically, the current shape of the AIIB will influence global strategic conditions and global perceptions of the bank itself, consequently affecting China’s level of dissatisfaction with its power and status in the international financial system and maneuvering in the AIIB. To empirically show that, this book presents the evolution of the AIIB, compares the bank with its main competitors in the Asia-Pacific region, and conducts ten comparative case studies to show how countries around the world have positioned themselves in response to the emergence of the AIIB. This book presents critical insights for scholars and foreign-policy practitioners to understand China’s surging influence in international organizations and how China can shape the world order. It should prove of interest to students and scholars of IR, strategic studies, China Studies, Asian Studies, developmental studies, economics, and global finance.

The Role of International Administrative Law at International Organizations, edited by Peter Quayle, is centred on the law of employment relations at international organizations, and divided into four parts. It examines the interplay between international administrative law and the jurisdictional immunities of international organizations. It explores the principles and practice of resolving employment related disputes at intergovernmental institutions. It considers the dynamic development of international administrative tribunals. It examines international administrative law as the basis for the effectiveness and integrity of international organizations. Together academics, jurists and practitioners portray the employment law that governs the international civil service and the resulting accountability of the United Nations, UN Specialized Agencies, and international financial institutions, like the World Bank and IMF.