China’s launch Friday of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a US$50 billion institution meant to challenge dominant global finance bodies like the World Bank, will debut with only 20 mostly small economies as founding members, The Financial Times reported, citing word from various countries in the region. India will be the only large economy to sign up to the Chinese initiative thanks to furious lobbying from Washington that has pressured countries which had previously shown interest – including South Korea, Australia and Indonesia – into declining Beijing’s invitation.
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