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Jacob Lew, the US secretary of Treasury, will visit China on behalf of President Obama from March 30-31, raising speculation as to whether the United States may follow its allies to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), reports Huanqiu Net, the website of nationalistic Chinese tabloid Global Times.
Since the visit is scheduled to take place on the deadline for countries to apply for the financial institution's founding membership, multiple news outlets in Japan are speculating that Lew may discuss US participation during the visit.
Japanese news website Nikkei.com said the US has not changed its attitude toward the institution but Lew will definitely discuss it when he meets Lou Jiwei, China's finance minister and soon-to-be head of the AIIB. They will also discuss President Xi Jinping's visit to the US in September and the Sino-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue.
Li Wei, a researcher at Renmin University of China in Beijing, also considers the main goal of Lew's visit to be discussing US participation in AIIB. The visit was arranged in haste and Lew will only visit China, said Li. He believes that despite political opposition within the US, it would be possible for the country to take part in the China-led institution for practical reasons.
Carlos Gutierrez, former US commerce secretary, said the AIIB has huge potential since Asia has tremendous demands for infrastructure. It will also boost the development of free trade zones in China, he added.