BEIJING, June 29 -- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) faced a seminal moment on Monday as founder members signed a charter that paves the way for the bank's operation later this year.

The orderly formation of the new multilateral institution, which began as a vision first raised by Chinese President Xi Jinping in October 2013, clearly illustrates Asia's great need to improve its underdeveloped infrastructure as well as the common aspiration of its countries to explore further growth potential in the region.

Meanwhile, as the increasing importance of emerging markets changes the landscape of a global economic order that has long been dominated by advanced economies, they also want a new institution that best serves their own interests. The AIIB answers that call.

With a principal mission to fund infrastructure projects, the bank will help meet the massive capital requirements of infrastructure projects worth trillions of dollars in the Asia-Pacific. No single institution could do this on its own.

As a newcomer, the AIIB should be viewed as positive competition rather than blunt rivalry for existing multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which are increasingly accused of providing limited help in developing countries.

China, the AIIB's largest shareholder with a 30.34-percent stake, has repeatedly said the new bank will complement the current international economic order and enable itself to take more global responsibility.

For its part, the AIIB prefers partnerships to a zero-sum game. Indeed, one of its major principles is to forge closer working relationships with other multilateral and bilateral development institutions, and to promote regional cooperative partnerships so as to cope with common challenges.