Ali Tayebnia who was in Beijing to sign the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) statute, met with Minister of Finance of the People's Republic of China Lou Jiwei on Monday and discussed various ways to expand bilateral economic relations with the country.
Tayebnia noted that the Chinese side was eager to boost trade ties with Iran, adding that during the meeting with Lou Jiwei, consultations were exchanged on how to further cooperation between Tehran and Beijing.
Elsewhere in his speech, Tayebnia pointed to the aims of forming the AIIB, saying the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has been inaugurated in order to encourage Asian countries to expand economic cooperation as well as to provide them with financial resources to implement their infrastructural plans.
The total sum of AIIB capital currently stands at 100 billion dollars, with the Islamic Republic of Iran having a share of 1.6 percent.
So far, representatives of 57 founding countries including Iran, China, India, Indonesia, Luxemburg, Nepal, New Zealand, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain have signed up to the statute.
Iran’s Minister of Finance also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday following the signing of the AIIB statute.
President Xi Jinping expressed his satisfaction with the warm welcome the AIIB had received from various countries around the world, saying that their participation in the newly-founded bank will be a historic step toward the development of global economy.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international financial institution proposed by the government of China in 2013. The purpose of the multilateral development bank is to provide finance to infrastructure projects in the Asia region.