U.K. Seeks to Join China-Backed Asian Infrastructure Bank

The U.K. is looking to join China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, becoming the first “major western country” to apply for membership, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said.

“Joining the AIIB at the founding stage will create an unrivaled opportunity for the U.K. and Asia to invest and grow together,” Osborne said in a statement Thursday. The U.K. will hold talks with the China-backed investment bank’s founding members later this month, according to the Treasury.