China said Monday it has formally nominated Jin Liqun, a former deputy finance minister, as its candidate for the head of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
The Finance Ministry, which announced the nomination, said the AIIB’s prospective founding members can nominate their candidates for the top post by July 31.
In any case, Jin is most likely to become the AIIB’s first president after the new lender’s expected establishment in Beijing by the end of this year. China proposed the creation of the bank and it is the AIIB’s largest shareholder.
Jin is now chief of the AIIB’s interim secretariat.
Late last month, delegates from the 57 founding members gathered in Beijing and most of them signed the AIIB’s articles of agreement that specifies details of its structure.
According to the articles, China will have about a 30 percent stake in the bank, which is seen as a rival to other multilateral lenders such as the Asian Development Bank.
Having worked in the international financial sector for more than 30 years, Jin served as the ADB’s vice president between 2003 and 2008.
