Ten years ago, Beijing launched the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank with a bold promise: To be faster, leaner, and more efficient than the lumbering multilateral development banks that have long dominated global finance. Today, AIIB is a $100 billion institution with more than 100 members. It has lived up to its promise of efficiency — but its lean oversight structure has raised some eyebrows about whether the institution is putting enough resources toward accountability.
The bank — dominated by China, which has 26.6% of the shareholding — has made impressive strides in the last decade, boasting 326 projects and approved spending of over $60 billion. It has built its shareholder base up from 57 in 2016 to 110 in 2025, including Western countries that were more skeptical of the institution at its inception. Most notably, AIIB has grown without dipping into financial uncertainty. In 2023, AIIB signed a guarantee agreement with the World Bank-based International Bank for Reconstruction and Development against sovereign-backed loans, allowing IBRD to access more capital despite being in financial straits. The loan also helped AIIB diversify its portfolio, decreasing its risk and protecting its credit rating. In 2024, the two institutions were in talks to repeat this arrangement.
But AIIB has a long list of critics, who argue that an overly minimalist structure prioritizing speed and efficiency means that it cuts back on the workforce and resources needed for sufficient accountability, in practice leading to lower standards. Some sources told Devex that the bank has generally shown a policy of shrugging off its responsibility to monitor social and environmental impact.