BEIJING, Dec. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from China.org.cn on AIIB’s first decade:
In a primary school classroom in the remote Bangladeshi village of Padmo Para, bright lights illuminate attentive students learning off a projector screen, accompanied by their teacher’s voice and an electric fan humming in the background.
Such an ordinary classroom scene was once out of the question for local students. Since Bangladesh gained independence in 1971, the village long remained without access to electricity, forcing students to do their homework by the dim light of oil lamps.
A turning point came in 2016. Back then, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), only six months into operation, listed the “Distribution System Upgrade and Expansion” in Bangladesh as one of its first batch of initiatives. Through a loan of 165 million USD, more sets of power equipment were installed, power plants upgraded, and cables constructed, putting an end to the electricity shortage that affected 12.5 million people in rural Bangladesh.
Village Padmo Para has been lit up ever since.
On Dec 25, ten years ago, the AIIB was officially founded under China’s initiative, with the aim of empowering infrastructure development, enhancing connectivity in Asia, and promoting multilateral collaboration. For ten years, tangible changes like those seen in Padmo Para have multiplied across member countries of the AIIB: In Uzbekistan, 660,000 residents have gained access to clean drinking water; in northern Cote d’Ivoire, a “road of happiness” linking the country with Mali and Guinea has broken long-standing transportation bottlenecks for local residents…
By December 23rd, 2025, the AIIB has approved 360 projects, with a total financing of 69.47 billion USD, covering loans and investment across sectors including energy, transportation, and hydraulic engineering in 40 member countries such as Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, and Fiji. By the end of 2024, AIIB-supported transportation infrastructure has exceeded 51,000 kilometers, benefiting more than 410 million people.
It’s clear that the AIIB is committed to strengthening regional collaboration and improving people’s wellbeing; it has also been focusing on empowering the growth of developing countries through investment. This stems from the AIIB currently being the only multilateral investing institution with developing countries as the major shareholders, and developed countries holding minority stakes. Guided by a multilateral cooperation model that emphasizes balance, openness and inclusiveness, and anchored in the principle of consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, the AIIB’s “circle” of partners has steadily expanded. Over the past decade, its membership has grown from 57 to 111, and it has established cooperative partnerships with more than 100 multilateral organizations and regional financial institutions.
Over these ten years, the AIIB has consistently funded future-oriented infrastructure, fueling regional as well as global integration. In doing so, it has sought to enhance wellbeing for people from its member economies and beyond, and to weave stability, openness, cooperation and development into the international community.
In the decade to come, which keywords will define the AIIB? We shall wait and see.
China Mosaic
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm
Keywords for AIIB’s first decade: multilateral cooperation, mutual connectivity, extensive consultation, and joint contribution
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2025-12/25/content_118246670.shtml
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SOURCE China.org.cn
