BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Saturday marks the fifth anniversary of the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The following are the achievements of the AIIB since it went into operation in January 2016:
-- The AIIB's "circle of friends" has been expanding, with its membership growing from 57 to 103 over the past five years.
-- The AIIB's cumulative approved investment grew from 1.69 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2016 to 22.02 billion dollars at the end of 2020, and the total number of approved projects rose from eight to 108.
-- The AIIB has secured Triple-A ratings from the major international credit rating agencies and is now capitalized at 100 billion dollars, a de-facto recognition of its strength, health and governance by the international market.
-- As for the total amount of approved investment over the past five years, East Asia, where China is located, received only 1.24 billion dollars, trailing South Asia's 8.71 billion dollars, Southeast Asia's 3.53 billion dollars, west Asia's 3.48 billion dollars, and Central Asia's 1.87 billion dollars. Any previous concerns that China would use the bank to direct money to itself are cleared up by these numbers.
-- In April 2020, the AIIB created a COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility to support AIIB members and clients in mitigating economic, financial and public health pressures brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
-- The size of the facility expanded from 5 billion to 13 billion dollars. So far, a total of 7.075 billion dollars worth of loans have been approved under this framework.
-- The AIIB has made continued efforts to forward its green agenda in recent years. It decided that climate financing will account for half of its total financing approvals by 2025. Enditem
