Germany, France, Italy follow UK to join AIIB

Paris

GERMANY, France and Italy said on Tuesday that they had agreed to join a new China-led Asian investment bank after close ally Britain defied US pressure to become a founder member of a venture seen in Washington as a rival to the World Bank.

The concerted move to participate in Beijing's flagship economic outreach project was a diplomatic blow for the United States, reflecting European eagerness to partner with China's fast-growing economy, the second largest in the world.