Egypt, Finland latest to apply to bank
A senior U.S. official reiterated on Monday that Washington is looking forward to cooperating with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), after dozens of countries, including U.S. allies, voiced their willingness to join the China-led organization.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew made the remarks during his talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on Monday, adding that the U.S. welcomes and supports proposals that are helpful to infrastructure construction, reported the Xinhua News Agency.
The cooperation can be carried out through the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue (SED), the World Bank and the AIIB, and any other mechanism acceptable to the two countries, Chinese Vice Minister of Finance Zhu Guangyao quoted Lew as saying.
Zhu told the Xinhua News Agency after the hour-long talks that Lew also welcomes a greater China role in international economic affairs. He added that Lew said the U.S. hopes the AIIB can come up with a quality management structure, and that it is ready to discU.S.s this with China.
The meeting came ahead of the March 31 deadline for countries to apply for founding member statU.S. with the AIIB, which aims to support infrastructure projects in Asia.
The U.S., which has a dominating influence in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, expressed its concerns when traditional allies such as the UK, France and Germany voiced willingness to join the AIIB.
"Will it adhere to the high standards that international financial institutions have developed? Will it protect the rights of workers and the environment?" Lew was quoted by AFP as saying two weeks ago.
A day ahead of the deadline, Egypt and Finland announced their intention to join the AIIB as founding members on Monday, expanding the list of potential members to 44 countries.
According to a report in the Financial Times on Monday, Masato Kitera, Japan's ambassador to Beijing, said that he believes Japan would join the China-led development bank by June.
"Lew's visit to China a day before the deadline is a positive sign and shows a softened attitude toward the AIIB," He Maochun, a professor of international relations at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Monday.
"The U.S. would welcome new multilateral institutions that strengthen the international financial architecture," the Wall Street Journal on March 22 quoted Nathan Sheets, U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs as saying.
But He said it will be hard for the U.S. to change its prudent stance on participating in the China-led bank in the short run.
Lew also came to Beijing to prepare for the upcoming SED in June and President Xi Jinping's state visit to the U.S. in September, Xinhua reported.
During the visit, Lew also pressed the Chinese government over alleged restrictions on the U.S.e of foreign security products in the Chinese banking sector.
"We have already made clear our deep concern about issues involving forced technology transfer and other attempts to bar technological competition most recently in the banking sector, and I look forward to continuing that discU.S.sion," Lew said in a meeting with a deputy Chinese premier, Wang Yang, on Monday, according to an AP report.
In response, Premier Li said that China hopes the U.S. would relax its restrictions on technology exports to China, and solve problems faced by Chinese companies when they invest in the U.S..
Li said China and the U.S. will focU.S. on the negotiations of the Bilateral Investment Treaty and a negative list. He promised that Beijing will further open up the service and manufacturing indU.S.tries, and cut in half restricted items for foreign investment. Li also expressed hope that the U.S. can approve reform to the IMF that will give China more sway in the organization, and that the U.S. will support the adoption of the yuan in the basket of special drawing rights, an exchange arrangement under the IMF.
