The Manila-based headquarters of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced on February 24 that it would establish a large permanent body in Beijing so as to strengthen economic cooperation with China and peripheral areas.

In a news communique, ADB said the new organization, ADB's biggest institution stationed abroad, will be opened for business in the middle of this year. The press communiqu¨¦ said that China is one of the biggest clients of ADB, opening permanent organization in China will help further strengthen ADB's cooperation with the Chinese government, the private economic sector and civil organizations and will help stimulate ADB to provide service for markets in areas neighboring China.

Founded in 1966, ADB is a multilateral organization offering assistance for development. It has 57 members, 41 of them came from the Asia-Pacific region, with the remaining from North America and Europe.