President Xi Jinping's meeting with representatives of the prospective founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank on Monday in Beijing shows the importance China attaches to the new multilateral lender.

Xi said that as long as all parties involved shore up the spirit of multilateral cooperation the AIIB will be a platform featuring openness, inclusiveness, reciprocity and win-win outcomes. In fact, it is the AIIB's design as an open and inclusive multilateral lender that has won it endorsement and popularity from countries across five continents.

Monday's signing of the 60-article constitution of the China-proposed bank by representatives of the 57 prospective founding members, a significant step forward, paves the way for it to begin operations around the end of the year.