BEIJING, Dec. 25 -- The China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was formally established Friday in Beijing after its Articles of Agreement came into effect.

Following is a chronology of events leading to the bank's establishment.

2013

October -- President Xi Jinping proposes the AIIB as an institution that will finance infrastructure construction and promote regional connections and economic integration in his speech at the Indonesian House of Representatives in Jakarta.

2014

Oct. 24 -- Twenty-one Asian countries ink a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Beijing on establishing the AIIB. The countries are Bangladesh; Brunei; Cambodia; China; India; Kazakhstan; Kuwait; Laos; Malaysia; Mongolia; Myanmar; Nepal; Oman; Pakistan; the Philippines; Qatar;Singapore; Sri Lanka; Thailand; Uzbekistan; and Vietnam.

Nov. 27 -- Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro signs an MoU to join the AIIB as a prospective founding member.

2015

January -- The number of prospective founding members rises to 26 after New Zealand, the Maldives, Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan officially join.

March 12 -- Britain applies to join the AIIB as a prospective founding member.

March 17 -- China welcomes decisions by France, Italy and Germany to apply to join the AIIB.

March 19 -- Luxembourg joins the group.

March 20 -- Switzerland also signs on the dotted line.

March 24 -- Premier Li Keqiang stresses that the AIIB will cooperate with and be complementary to existing financial institutions. The AIIB will take an open and inclusive attitude, he says at a meeting with Asian Development Bank President Takehiko Nakao.

March 26 -- Turkey applies to join as a prospective founding member.

March 27 -- China welcomes the same decisions by Austria and the Republic of Korea.

March 28 -- Russia's first deputy prime minister announces at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference that Russia has decided to join the AIIB.

March 28 -- China welcomes the decisions of Brazil, the Netherlands and Georgia to apply to join.

March 28 -- In his keynote speech at the Boao conference, Xi says, "We will vigorously promote a system of regional financial cooperation, explore a platform for exchanges and cooperation among Asian financial institutions, and advance complementary and coordinated development between the AIIB and such multilateral financial institutions as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank."

March 29-31 -- China welcomes the decisions of Denmark, Australia, Egypt, Finland, Kyrgyzstan and Sweden to apply to join the AIIB.

March 31 -- Taiwan submits a last-minute letter of intent on joining the AIIB.

March 31 -- The deadline for founding member applications. Countries and regions are still be able to join after this, but only as common members.

April 1 -- Germany becomes the first prospective founding member of the AIIB, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) says.

April 2-14 -- The MOF announces that Australia; Austria; Brazil; Denmark; Egypt; Finland; France; Georgia; Iran; Italy; Kyrgyzstan; Malta; the Netherlands; Norway; the Republic of Korea; Russia; Spain; Turkey; and the United Arab Emirates have all become prospective founding members.

April 15 -- The number of AIIB prospective founding members is finalized at 57, with seven new members -- Sweden, Israel, South Africa, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Portugal and Poland.

May 22 -- Negotiators from the 57 countries agree on a key framework for the bank, with the signing scheduled for the end of June in Beijing.

June 29 -- Delegates of the 57 attend the signing ceremony of the articles of agreement.

Nov. 4 -- China's top legislature ratifies the AIIB Articles of Agreement, which establishes the legal framework for the bank.

Dec. 25 -- The AIIB is formally established in Beijing after its Articles of Agreement come into effect.