- Title: EUROPE-ASIA/BANK China welcomes new membership to Beijing-backed investment bank
- Date: 17th March 2015
- Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (MARCH 17, 2015) (REUTERS) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN HONG LEI WALKING IN FOR REGULAR NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN HONG LEI, SAYING: "AIIB is an open, inclusive, multilateral, investment institution. China welcomes whatever country that wishes be a founding member to join AIIB. The positive participation of countries within and outside of the region can show the broad representation of AIIB. China hopes that all relevant countries will work together to build AIIB and realise a win-win, professional, and highly efficient infrastructural investment platform." JOURNALIST TYPING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN HONG LEI, SAYING: "The establishment of AIIB will be an efficient supplement in the Asian region for the existing multilateral banks such as World Bank and Asian Investment Bank, so that they can jointly provide investment and financing for the construction of infrastructure in the Asian region." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS EXTERIOR OF CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY CHINESE NATIONAL FLAG FLYING
- Embargoed: 1st April 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA78XB6UX1ZZGQTUGQGOEMW4MF
- Story Text: China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday (March 17) that it welcomes new membership to its Beijing-led international development bank as media reports said a growing number of close U.S. allies were ignoring Washington's pressure to stay out of the institution.
France, Germany and Italy have agreed to follow Britain's lead and join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Financial Times reported, quoting European officials.
The newspaper said the decision by the four countries to become members of the AIIB was a major diplomatic setback for Washington, which has questioned if the new bank will have high standards of governance and environmental and social safeguards.
The bank is also seen as contributing to the spread of China's "soft power" in the region, possibly at the expense of the United States.
China's state-owned Xinhua news agency said South Korea, Switzerland and Luxembourg were also considering joining.
However, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei would not comment on which countries had applied to join.
"AIIB is an open, inclusive, multilateral, investment institution. China welcomes whatever country that wishes be a founding member to join AIIB. The positive participation of countries within and outside of the region can show the broad representation of AIIB. China hopes that all relevant countries will work together to build AIIB and realise a win-win, professional, and highly efficient infrastructural investment platform," said Hong.
The AIIB was launched in Beijing last year to spur investment in Asia in transportation, energy, telecommunications and other infrastructure. It was seen as a rival to the Western-dominated World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
China said earlier this year a total of 26 countries had been included as founder members, mostly from Asia and the Middle East. It plans to finalise the articles of agreement by the end of the year.
"The establishment of AIIB will be an efficient supplement in the Asian region for the existing multilateral banks such as World Bank and Asian Investment Bank, so that they can jointly provide investment and financing for the construction of infrastructure in the Asian region," Hong added.
China has said March 31 is the deadline for accepting founder-members into the organisation.
Japan, Australia and South Korea remain notable regional absentees from the AIIB, although Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said at the weekend he would make a final decision on AIIB membership soon.
South Korea has said it is still in discussions with China and other countries about its possible participation.
Japan, China's main regional rival, has the biggest shareholding in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) along with the United States, and the Manila-based bank is headed by a Japanese, by convention.
Japan is unlikely to join the China-backed bank, but the head of the ADB, Takehiko Nakao, told the Nikkei Asian Review that the two institutions were in discussions and could cooperate. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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