Zou Jiayi has been elected as the next president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) by the group’s board of governors.
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The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank — a similar institution to the World Bank — announced a new president on Tuesday during its 10th annual meeting.
Zou Jiayi will see her five-year term begin on 16 January 2026, the day after the founding President Jin Liqun concludes his second five-year term.
“The Bank’s strategy is clear and on track, and there is so much more we can achieve in the years to come,” said Zou.
“In the first 10 years, AIIB has already invested development capital in 322 projects across 38 member economies, in many cases in partnership with other leading multilateral development banks.”
Zou Jiayi is a former vice minister of finance and senior member of the Chinese Communist party’s anti-corruption body.
Her experience spans organisations including the World Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank, the New Development Bank, the AIIB and the IFAD.
She is also deputy secretary-general of the Chinese government’s advisory body (CPPCC).
The AIIB is focused on development in Asia, although it has 110 members from across the globe.
These include European nations such as Germany and France, but the US is not a member.
The annual meeting comes at a critical time for the bank as it seeks to court business opportunities, particularly while institutions like the World Bank and the IMF face potential funding cuts from the US administration.
The AIIB now employs 700 international staff from 78 economies and it has invested more than $60 billion, with at least half of new financing now directed to climate finance projects.
