AIIB committed to infrastructure for better future: bank president

China

AIIB committed to infrastructure for better future: bank president

2024-10-13 17:30 Last Updated At：10-14 14:37

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), has emphasized the international institution's role in building "infrastructure for tomorrow," making considerations of both economic development and environmental sustainability.

In an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG), Jin stressed that the mission of the bank is to promote sustainable infrastructure development.

"Infrastructure is the very foundation for the modern economy, and infrastructure development paves the path for sustained development. This is what we understood. But with the involvement of our financing and with the passage of time, we understood that infrastructure should never, ever be designed, implemented in a way like what it was done 20, 30 years ago. We are building infrastructure for tomorrow, which means the infrastructure development should take into consideration the impact on the environment. Our modern infrastructure should be conducive to the improvement in an environment, reversing the environmental degradation. And our infrastructure should also help in dealing with climate change. So, we do a lot of climate change financing for climate adaptation, mitigation kind of thing," he said.

Jin said that the AIIB has advocated a broad definition of infrastructure, noting that its next chapter will include expanding into social infrastructure and ramping up its investments in digital infrastructure.

"For instance, when China and many other countries were hit by COVID-19, we quickly mobilize resources to do projects, which would help these countries deal with COVID-19's impact. We provided support to Beijing, Wuhan and Chongqing, and we provided the support to many other countries. You know why, because health care system is important, and COVID-19 laid bare the weaknesses of the health care system. It's the weakest link on the chain. And then we helped these countries and the people to deal with that. It's the social infrastructure. And we are also providing support for digital infrastructure. So, infrastructure for tomorrow is the infrastructure to improve the resilience of the economies in our countries, which we support," said Jin.

Shanghai hits a record-high 7.14 million expat accommodation registrations in 2025

The number of temporary accommodation registrations of foreign nationals in Shanghai hit a record high of 7.139 million in 2025, up 49.6 percent from the previous year, the Exit-Entry Administration Corps of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau said at a press briefing on Thursday.

The figure, which had already doubled in 2024, points to a continued rise in the number of foreign nationals visiting and staying in the city, highlighting the metropolis's growing appeal to international visitors.

Shanghai also issued more than 200,000 visas and residence permits to foreigners for the second consecutive year in 2025.

Long-term permits, including residence permits, accounted for a share 10 percentage points higher than the previous year, reflecting growing demand for extended stays.

Officials said the increase mirrors Shanghai's expanding openness and improving services for foreign visitors and residents.

"In 2025, Shanghai processed 7.139 million temporary accommodation registrations for foreigners. Following a doubling from the year before last, the figure rose by another 49.6 percent year on year, marking a historical high in the number of foreign nationals coming to Shanghai," said Song Weiqi, deputy head of the administration corps.

Accommodation registrations are required for foreigners staying in China. In 2025, 94.7 percent of temporary accommodation registrations were handled directly by hotels, resulting in a convenient check-in process.

Among foreigners residing in Shanghai's residential communities, 84.8 percent opted for online self-reporting via a multilingual platform that offers efficient, flexible registration.

Meanwhile, to ease the surge in passport applications for foreign travel ahead of the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday in mid-February, the administration corps announced plans to extend service hours for residents.