Asia faces tougher times than in previous two financial crises, warns Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank chief
● Former Chinese Vice-Minister of Finance Jin Liqun ‘concerned’ what impact the US-China trade war will have on member countries, ‘particularly those in Asia that are major trading partners of China’
● ‘I appeal to the Chinese government to take effective measures ... so that the pressure on neighbouring countries will be eased,’ he says
The US-China trade war and rising global borrowing costs have brought headwinds more formidable than those during the two financial crises that hit Asia in the past two decades, according to the head of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
Beijing and Asian governments must take measures to deal with the impact that has yet to fully reveal itself, Jin Liqun, the president of the Beijing-based multilateral development bank backed by 87 member countries and territories, told the FT-AIIB Summit in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
“I am concerned [about] the possible impact on member countries, particularly those in Asia that are major trading partners of China,” said the former Chinese Vice-Minister of Finance, asked how the trade war has impacted his work at AIIB.
“It is probably still too soon to see the full impact ... I appeal to the Chinese government to take effective measures ... so that the pressure on neighbouring countries will be eased.”
As US monetary and economic policies have major implications for countries in the rest of the world, Jin said sustainability of strong US economic growth is key to the economic health of many Asian nations that are major exporters to the world’s largest economy.
He is particularly worried about the rapid depreciation of the currencies of Asia’s emerging economies as a result of heightened global geopolitical and macroeconomic risks, and tightening monetary policies in the US, Europe and Japan.
