He said he is planning for the first loans to be approved before the end of this year. The scale of loans in the first year will be modest — between $500 million and $1.2 billion — with energy, power, transportation, rural infrastructure, environmental protection and logistics the priorities.

The bank has been working closely with the World Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to identify possible co-financing projects, Jin said.

"We already have a very good project pipeline, including co-financing projects and standalone projects vetted by our own professionals. We are also open to other partners in the private sector," he said.

But he also said that "just preparing these pipelines and making the loans" is not the most important aspect for a bank in its initial stages. It is "far more important" for the first president to set the stage by building a corporate culture that holds employees accountable.

An environmental and social framework is among the core policies in the making.

World Bank veteran Stephen F. Lintner has led the drafting of a paper on this, and has held rounds of consultation with a number of stakeholders.

Jin said this framework is "as good as those for other institutions, and in certain aspects is even better".

David Loevinger, a former China specialist at the US Treasury, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying: "China has committed to holding the AIIB to high standards of governance and transparency. They've talked the talk. Now they've got to walk the walk. If China delivers, its role as a global leader will be enhanced."