ASIA ECONOMIC LEADERSHIP
China in bank power duel with Japan
We remain cautious about the ADB and need to examine its transparency even more closely
The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB’s) 50th annual meeting is supposed to be a celebration of Japan’s economic leadership in Asia over the half-century — instead it takes place in the shadow of China’s bid to increasingly assert itself as the regional powerhouse. The ADB is coming off a record year for lending and is the region’s major financier for development, but its meeting in Yokohama starting on Thursday could quickly fade as attention turns to China’s high-profile "One Belt, One Road" summit the next week. Many One Belt projects are supported by China’s state-owned banks and fledgling regional lender, the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which could become a potential rival of the Manila-based ADB, but for now is much smaller. "Politically, the AIIB is a direct challenge to the ADB by providing borrowers an alternative," said Tang Siew Mun, senior fellow at the Iseas Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. "One Belt, One Road with AIIB’s deep pockets offers a vision of t...
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