China, Development and International Order Seminar Series

Established in 2015 under Chinese leadership, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has rapidly emerged as the second-largest multilateral development bank, bringing together a diverse membership spanning Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Oceania. Its rapid growth and institutional consolidation have raised important questions about how financing decisions and strategic priorities are shaped by the political interests and alignments of its member states.

Drawing on an analysis of the AIIB’s project portfolio and negotiations surrounding its energy strategies, this seminar examines how state alignment, governance characteristics, and geopolitical positioning influence both project approval patterns and broader strategic initiatives within the Bank. European countries and other Western allies have actively mobilised informal and discursive influence within the AIIB’s governance structures, contributing to key milestones in the energy sector, most notably the Bank’s alignment with the Paris Agreement and the commitment to a minimum share of green investments embedded in its Corporate Strategy. At the same time, the AIIB’s financing operations remain disproportionately concentrated in countries that are less aligned with the US-led liberal order, exhibit lower levels of democracy, and are closely linked to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Speaker
Matteo Cianforlini is a PhD candidate in Political and Social Sciences at the University of Bologna. He holds a BA in International and Diplomatic Sciences and an MA in International Politics and Economics, both from the University of Bologna. He is also a member of the European International Studies Association (EISA) Early Career Development (ECD) Group, where he contributes to organising events and seminars to support the professional development of early-career researchers. His research focuses on the international development finance regime, with particular attention to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank, and examines how these institutions shape and contest existing norms of global financial governance. His work has been featured in the academic journal Global Policy.

Chair
A/Prof Amy King is Associate Professor and Head of the Strategic & Defence Studies Centre in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. She is the author of China-Japan Relations after World War Two: Empire, Industry and War, 1949-1971 (Cambridge University Press, 2016). The holder of an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship and a Westpac Research Fellowship, she leads a team researching China’s role in shaping the international economic order.

This seminar series is part of a research project on How China Shapes the International Economic Order, led by A/Professor Amy King, in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs.

Additional information
Registration is required for this event. Accessible parking spaces are available around campus should you require them.

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Contact the host of State Interests and Development Politics in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

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