Japan said Wednesday the number of founding members of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is "within expectations" based on information collected from G-7 nations and other countries.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga was speaking at a news conference after China's Finance Ministry announced a list of 57 founding members of the AIIB, which Beijing aims to launch by year's end.
Four of the Group of Seven nations — Britain, France, Germany and Italy — applied by March 31, the deadline set by China for countries to become founding members. Japan, Canada and the United States opted not to join by the deadline.
The initial AIIB membership rivals the 67-member Asian Development Bank, a Manila-based multilateral lender led by Japan and the United States.
Now that the AIIB founding members are confirmed, China aims to agree on the new lender's Articles of Agreement, or the basic rules governing the bank, by the end of June through negotiations involving the 57 countries.
Suga, the top government spokesman, reiterated Japan's cautious stance toward the AIIB, citing concern about "fair governance and debt sustainability" of the institution.
"In coordination with relevant countries, (Japan) will continue to urge China that the AIIB meet standards suitable for so-called international financial institutions," he said.