European expert sees joining AIIB as participation in major initiative in fastest-growing region

For European countries, joining the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) means participation in a major economic initiative in the world's fastest-growing region, a senior European Union (EU) analyst said Tuesday.

Duncan Freeman, a senior research fellow at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies, made the remarks while commenting on the latest development that Germany, France and Italy have followed Britain's lead to confirm their intentions to join the bank.

Participation in the AIIB gives the European countries a role in a key emerging institution for both China and the region, he told Xinhua.

The analyst said the fact that several European countries have sought to participate in the AIIB, and perhaps others will follow, "represents a policy failure for the U.S. which has tried to limit development of the bank."

"That a number of European and Asian countries have joined the AIIB despite U.S. concerns suggests that its political influence does not always determine decisions by its allies, especially if they have strong interests and incentives to follow their own policy," he said.

Meanwhile, Australian leaders have been lining up over the past few days to voice their support for joining the bank.

With an expected initial subscribed capital of 50 billion U.S. dollars, the AIIB will be an international financial institution to fund infrastructure projects in Asia, which is to be formally established by the end of this year.

Twenty-one countries, including China, India and Singapore, signed the Memorandum of Understanding in Beijing in October last year to build the bank.

Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said on March 6 that 27 countries have applied to jointly build the bank as founding members. The deadline for applications is March 31. Endi