BEIJING, Nov. 15 -- China on Tuesday said it would be "good" if the United States couldjoin the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the comments in response to aquestion about whether China welcomes the United States to join the Beijing-basedmultilateral development bank.
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump'snational security adviser, James Woolsey, called the Obama's administration's oppositionto the formation of the AIIB "a strategic mistake" in a letter to the newspaper, according toReuters.
The AIIB aims to promote infrastructure construction in Asia and meet relevantinvestment demand. It is an open and inclusive multilateral development institution, Gengsaid.
"It would be a good thing if the United States, the world's largest economy, were to join theAIIB. We have held this attitude since the very beginning," he noted.
The China-initiated AIIB, formally established on Dec. 25, 2015, started operations inJanuary this year. It now has 57 members and authorized capital amounting to 100 billionU.S. dollars.
Geng added that, nevertheless, the AIIB is an independent multilateral institution with itsown rules and procedures about new membership approval.
"China cannot take a stand on behalf of other AIIB members," he said.