BEIJING, Nov. 15 -- China on Tuesday said it would be "good" if the United States could join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the comments in response to a question about whether China welcomes the United States to join the Beijing-based multilateral development bank.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's national security adviser, James Woolsey, called the Obama's administration's opposition to the formation of the AIIB "a strategic mistake" in a letter to the newspaper, according to Reuters.

The AIIB aims to promote infrastructure construction in Asia and meet relevant investment demand. It is an open and inclusive multilateral development institution, Geng said.

"It would be a good thing if the United States, the world's largest economy, were to join the AIIB. We have held this attitude since the very beginning," he noted.

The China-initiated AIIB, formally established on Dec. 25, 2015, started operations in January this year. It now has 57 members and authorized capital amounting to 100 billion U.S. dollars.

Geng added that, nevertheless, the AIIB is an independent multilateral institution with its own rules and procedures about new membership approval.

"China cannot take a stand on behalf of other AIIB members," he said.

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