A further proof of this belief in Chinese exceptionalism was the country’s initiative in 2015 to launch a new development bank, the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), essentially as a China-led multilateral financial institution in competition with, or alongside if you prefer, the existing UN-sponsored banks such as the IMF, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. By launching and guiding the AIIB, China must also hope that other Asian countries will come to see it as a benevolent regional leader rather than as a threat.
