The head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Saturday his institution hoped to have its first joint projects with the new $100 billion China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in place by next year.

The EBRD was set up in 1991 after the fall of the Berlin Wall to help former communist countries, but its spread east in recent years to countries such as Mongolia means it is likely to overlap with the AIIB as it gets up and running.

"We are very keen to work together at the earliest possible opportunity," EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti said in prepared remarks to be delivered in Beijing. "We in the EBRD will be ready to present AIIB with several projects next year ripe for immediate co-financing."

He flagged infrastructure and energy efficiency projects as the most obvious areas where the two could work together, calling it "a historic opportunity" for all involved.