Zou Jiayi, president and chair of the board of directors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), described multilateralism as an "infrastructure of global trust" in an interview with the South China Morning Post published on 15 June 2026, as the Beijing-based lender marked its 10th anniversary. She said institutions such as AIIB "create certainty amid uncertainty".
The interview covered Zou's first months at the helm of the bank, its decade of operations, her vision for its future direction, the significance of interconnected development in a divided world and how artificial intelligence might support the work of multilateral development banks.
DOUBLING FINANCING BY 2030
In a separate article presented by AIIB and published by Euronews on the same day, Zou said: "In a turbulent world today, multilateralism matters more than ever." The article said AIIB aims to broadly double its annual financing volume by 2030 and is expanding the financial tools it uses, including new instruments to attract private capital and local currency financing. "Development impact will be measured by both quantity and quality," Zou said. According to the article, she visited 15 member economies on a listening tour before setting out her direction for the bank.
The article said AIIB has 111 members from six continents and has financed 381 projects across 42 economies amounting to EUR67 billion. It added that, in response to the challenges stemming from the conflict in the Middle East, the bank launched the Energy, Food Security and Economic Resilience Facility to support members whose development prospects may be adversely affected.
BACKGROUND
Zou took office on 16 January 2026, the tenth anniversary of AIIB, succeeding founding president Jin Liqun after the conclusion of his second five-year term. She was elected by the bank's Board of Governors in June 2025. She previously served as deputy secretary general of China's top political advisory body, held senior roles at the Ministry of Finance including vice-minister, and spent eight years at the World Bank in Washington representing China as executive director. AIIB began operations in 2016, is capitalised at USD100 billion and is rated AAA by the major international credit rating agencies.