ANKARA
Applications of 5 more countries for the founding membership of Chinese-initiated Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank were approved according to a statement from Finance Ministry of China on Sunday.
But Taiwan was rejected as a member, the Xinhua news agency confirmed on Monday. Bank officials said Taiwan might be allowed to join later.
Brazil, Georgia, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands have been accepted as founding members of the new bank, bringing the number of founding members to 46 as of April 13.
So far, more than 50 countries have applied for membership of the bank, to which China pledged to provide $50 billion in initial capital.
At existing institutions, like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Asian Development bank, the U.S. and Japan both have considerably more voting powers than emerging markets, including China.
China has sponsored this new initiative with the object of having a greater voice in the $8 trillion development gap that has been identified by the existing institutions around Asia.
China had previously announced that founding members would be determined by April 15.
The U.S. has warned about 'standards' at the new bank, but Chinese officials have said that standards at the AIIB would be just as strict as those at existing institutions.
