Australia keen on China-backed infrastructure bank

Australia on Wednesday said it was keen to join an Asian infrastructure lender seen as a counterweight to Western-backed international development banks, but said changes to its set-up were needed.

China and 20 other countries last month put their names to a memorandum of understanding to establish the Chinese-driven Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) at a ceremony in Beijing.

The institution, reportedly to be based in Beijing, is expected to have initial capital of US$50 billion to address the region's burgeoning demand for transportation, dams, ports and other facilities, officials say.

But precise details about the bank, including governance and transparency issues, remain elusive and big economies such as the United States and Japan, as well as Australia, turned down an initial request to join.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told The Australian newspaper he would encourage other nations to back the bank once it was clear it was a "genuine bank" rather than an arm of just one country's foreign policy.