China's AIIB to get 25 new members

About 25 African, European and South American countries are set to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank this year, reinforcing Beijing’s determination to push a global agenda even as US president Donald Trump rails against the ills of economic globalization, the Financial Times reports. Jin Liqun, president of the AIIB, said on Monday that an expanded membership would help boost lending by the $100bn multilateral organisation, which was created last year with 57 founding shareholders in spite of opposition from the US. “Now that China has developed, it is our turn to contribute,” Mr Jin said in an interview. “China needs to do something that can help it be recognized as a responsible leader.” Ireland, Canada, Ethiopia and Sudan are understood to be among the 25 countries expected to join this year, with several likely to be inducted at the bank’s annual meeting in June.