AIIB Approves US$355 Million China Covid-19 Loan

The Beijing-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB ) has approved a sovereign-backed loan of RMB 2,485 million (US$355 million) for the upgrading of China’s sustainable public health infrastructure and the provision of emergency equipment and supplies.

The loan project aims to strengthen the public health emergency response capacity in the Chinese municipalities of Beijing and Chongqing. The Covid-19 outbreak triggered China’s urgent financial need for support in strengthening its capacity in epidemic prevention and control, and cities with large floating populations like Beijing and Chongqing have particularly acute financial needs to address such challenges.

The loan will support the sustainable development of the two cities’ public health infrastructures, systems and emergency response abilities. These include upgrading their respective Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, enhancing the treatment capacity of medical institutions in dealing with epidemic emergencies, and providing emergency equipment and supplies to frontline public health workers to help contain the outbreak.

“AIIB’s response underscores the importance of building resilient public health infrastructures and maintaining robust systems for members to effectively mitigate risks to their populations associated with outbreaks of communicable disease,” says Konstantin Limitovskiy, AIIB’s vice-president of investment operations.

AIIB’s shareholding structure can be seen as follows:

Beijing, China’s capital, has a population of 22 million. Chongqing, the regional center of the west of China, has 31 million people. Improvements in the public health infrastructure of the two cities will help protect their populations in the future from other contagious diseases.

The AIIB was originally established to assist with infrastructure development projects throughout Asia as a key financial aspect to China’s Belt & Road Initiative.

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