New Zealand became on January 5th the 24th nation to sign on and join as a founding member the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which will act as an alternative to the Western run World Bank.

New Zealand has become the latest founding member state of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

The AIIB is a consequence of new Chinese expansion in Asia, and will act in a duplicate function to the IMF and World Bank. The AIIB also joins with Russia's new SWIFT mechanism and paves the way for a future global trade system that runs outside the dollar and the U.S. dominated reserve currency.

The founding members of the Asian infrastructure investment bank increased to 24, including Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Maldives, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

The AIIB's authorized capital is $100 billion, and the initial subscribed capital is expected to be around $50 billion, with a 20% paid-in ratio.

Founding members are expected to complete the signing and ratification of the Articles of Agreement (AOA) in 2015, and AIIB will be formally established by the end of 2015.

Beijing will be the host city for the AIIB's headquarters.

Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, and Australia did not join the bank, although there is an open debate in Australia and South Korea on doing so.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) have already joined hands to float the Brics Bank. The latter will be headquartered in Shanghai but India will have the presidency for initial five years.