Europe will flow into China in defiance of the US – BBC

Joining the Chinese equivalent of the World Bank, Asian infrastructure investments, interested more and more countries, including European ones. To the project after the UK, despite the objections of the United States, ready to join France, Germany and Italy. Russia in his party has not yet listed.

A few European countries ready to join the Chinese equivalent of the World Bank. As it became known this week, France, Germany and Italy joined the project of Asian Bank of infrastructure investments (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, AIIB), said The Financial Times newspaper with reference to European officials.

Together with France, Germany and Italy among the founders AIIB will have four European countries. Previously, in early March, a formal declaration of accession to AIIB filed UK.

Other Western countries have also expressed interest in the newly established organization, but hampered by pressure from the United States, the newspaper writes.

established under the auspices of China Bank should strengthen the Chinese economic influence and to strengthen the country’s position in the Asian region. It is planned that AIIB be able to compete with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, in which the US and its allies is high enough quota.

The US is trying to keep their partners from joining the Chinese international bank. For example, the administration of US President Barack Obama criticized for the UK to join the new Chinese bank.

Earlier, the same pressure Washington had on Australia, which is a key US ally in the Asia-Pacific region. However Canberra also announced plans to review its position on this issue. In early March, the Treasury Minister of Australia John Hockey announced that his country would consider entry into AIIB. Seoul can also reconsider its decision to not join AIIB. By message «Xinhua,” to become the founder of the bank calculates and Saudi Arabia.

The current share capital of the bank, which was created for the purpose of investment infrastructure projects, is $ 50 billion, although the summer of last year, China offered increase it twice.

At the same time, draws attention Associate Professor, Department of civilizational development of the East HSE Mikhail Karpov, a clear plan for funding from the structure is no question about which projects will result in money, remains open.

According to Chinese media, one of the first projects that will receive funds from AIIB, may be the construction of high-speed railways in Malaysia as well as in other Asian countries.

The idea of ​​its creation was first performed in October 2013 during the first visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping in Indonesia. Head of State announced the proposal in talks with Indonesian President Susiloy Bambang Yudhoyono, said the agency “Xinhua”. Then Beijing announced its readiness to offer financial assistance to infrastructure construction to developing countries in the region, including ASEAN members. To date, the project has joined more than two dozen countries. Among them, in addition to China, the ASEAN countries, Bangladesh, India, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Kuwait, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka.