Jin Liqun, who was nominated by China in July, has finally been selected for the presidency of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

The chief negotiators from 54 of the 57 founding members have unanimously agreed to appoint Jin Liqun as AIIB's president. Mr Liqun still needs to be re-confirmed by the Board of Governors after the formal establishment of the AIIB.

Jin Liqun is now chief of the AIIB's preparation body. He was a former top official at the China Investment Corporation and finance vice-minister managing the budget for government organisations and overseeing fund raising from domestic and international capital markets. He has also worked for the World Bank (WB) and for the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Jin Liqun has a master's degree in English Literature from the Beijing Foreign Studies University and was a Hubert Humphrey Fellow in Boston University's 1987-88 economics graduate programme.

Once fully operational the AIIB will support access to finance for infrastructure projects across Asia, using a variety of support measures including loans, equity investments, and guarantees, to boost investment across a range of sectors including transportation, energy, telecommunication, agriculture and urban development. This support can complement the work already done in the region by existing multilateral development banks such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.