If It Is Not Socialisation, Then What? China's Institutional Statecraft in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Abstract:The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was established in 2014 to fund infrastructure plans and enhance economic development in Asia. As a founding member, China's strong presence raises the question of whether Beijing is selectively using institutions to promote its interests, or if it genuinely sees itself as a responsible power in the international community. This also leads to an empirical puzzle: What are China's strategies in maintaining a new institution? How can Beijing assure others and gain more influence in global economic governance? This study challenges the views on China's hegemonic ambitions in creating the AIIB, and suggests that Beijing's experience of socialisation in international organisations has positively contributed to China's institutional strategy. The author engages the current "China threat" debates in the literature of international relations and highlights that China's maintenance of both its benign image and its institutional strategy remains an understudied area. The author proposes a normative perspective to highlight Beijing's strategy in responding to the "China threat" theory. China's rise indeed offers both challenges and opportunities to the current world order.