US joining AIIB under Donald Trump would be "good": China

BEIJING: China today said it would be "good" if the US could join multilateral lender Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank after President-elect Donald Trump's one of the advisers termed it as a "strategic mistake" on America's part not to join the China-led bank as a founder member.

"It would be a good thing if the United States, the world's largest economy, were to join the AIIB. We have held this attitude since the very beginning," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told reporters here responding to a query whether China welcomes US to join the development bank.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said Trump's national security adviser James Woolsey called the Obama's administration's opposition to the AIIB "a strategic mistake".

The AIIB aims to promote infrastructure construction in Asia and meet relevant investment demand. It is an open and inclusive multilateral development institution, Geng said.

The China-initiated AIIB, formally established on December 25, 2015, started operations in January this year. It now has 57 members including India with authorised capital amounting to USD 100 billion.

Geng said that, nevertheless, the AIIB is an independent multilateral institution with its own rules and procedures about new membership approval.

"China cannot take a stand on behalf of other AIIB members," he said.