China condemns efforts to find fault with new infrastructure bank AIIB

China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned efforts to cast doubt on governance issues facing the country's new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), saying attention should focus instead on finding ways
to tackle regional problems.

A total of 57 countries, including G7 members Britain, Germany and France, have joined the AIIB as founding members.

But the United States and Japan have stayed out of the venture, which is seen as a rival to the U.S.-dominated World Bank and Japan-led Asian Development Bank (ADB), expressing concern about the new bank's governance.

"The aim of China's proposal to set up the AIIB is to help the developing economies of this region to really resolve some actual difficulties they face, and lead the region to joint development and prosperity," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a daily news briefing.

"We believe that the correct attitude to the real problems facing countries in this region is to do more to find ways of addressing them rather than finding fault," Lu added.

The region's financing needs are so enormous that having another means of addressing them can only be a good thing, the spokesman said.

"Now there are even more countries who want in on the AIIB, and this is a happy thing. Some countries can't for the moment join, and this can be understood," Lu said.

"But if some countries don't want to join, and keep looking for fault in the efforts of other countries to resolve problems, then this attitude really isn't very desirable."