Description
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), established in 2015 and primarily promoted by China, has been central to debates over the type of development it seeks to promote across Asia and beyond. Since its inception, the AIIB has sought to establish credibility and legitimacy by co-financing projects with established institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, and by adopting high environmental and social standards. This study, however, focuses on a project solely financed by the AIIB to examine how the processes underlying project financing and implementation can negatively affect local populations. It relies on semi-structured interviews with affected communities, project analysts, and experts involved in the AIIB-financed project, providing a grounded perspective on the bank’s operational and social impacts. This work contributes to ongoing debates about the AIIB's modus operandi and how it differentiates from other multilateral development banks.