Hong Kong has been approved as a member of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), while the lender added 13 new members to expand its membership to a total of 70.
The AIIB was launched in January 2015 with 57 founding members as a multinational development bank designed to provide financial support for infrastructure development and regional connectivity in Asia.
This is the first expansion since AIIB's inception, with other new members joining including Afghanistan, Belgium, Ireland, Peru, Fuji, Hungary, Armenia, Ethiopia, the Republic of Sudan and Venezuela.
"The interest in joining the AIIB from around the world affirms the rapid progress we have made to establish the bank as an international institution," the bank’s president Jin Liqun said in a statement. "I am very proud that the AIIB now has members from almost every continent and we anticipate further applications being considered by our board of governors later this year."
At the end of 2016, the AIIB's board advised that Hong Kong may apply to join the AIIB with a subscription of 7,651 of its shares, of which 1,530 shall be paid-in shares (amounting to about US$1.2 billion payable over five years) and 6,121 shall be callable shares.
The 13 prospective members will officially join the lender once they complete procedures in their home countries and deposit their first installment of capital in the bank.
"Hong Kong's participation in the AIIB can also create new opportunities for the relevant sectors, and can further reinforce our position as a premier international financial center," said Hong Kong's Financial Secretary, Paul Chan Mo-po.