YEREVAN, June 25. / ARKA /. China is expanding plans to establish a global financial institution to rival the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which Beijing fears are too influenced by the US and its allies, Prime reported citing The Financial Times.

So far, 22 countries across the region, including several wealthy states in the Middle East, which China refers to as “West Asia”, have shown interest in the multilateral lender, which would be known as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). It would initially focus on building a new version of the “silk road”, the ancient trade route that once connected Europe to China.

Most of the funding for the lender would come from China and be spent on infrastructure projects across the region, including a direct rail link from Beijing to Baghdad.

The AIIB would provide a direct challenge to the Manila-based ADB, which China feels is too influenced by its rival Japan.

Beijing hopes to have the bank up and running by the end of the year and has appointed Jin Liqun, former chairman of the board of supervisors for China’s sovereign wealth fund and a former ADB vice-president, to establish the AIIB.

The ADB estimates that Asia will need $800bn a year of infrastructure investment between now and 2020. -0-