China: Taiwan will be welcomed as member of AIIB as soon as it uses proper name

China welcomes Taiwan as a member of Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as long as the self-ruled island uses an appropriate name, Reuters cited China's Xinhua Wednesday.

According to Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang, the office has received Taiwan's letter of intent to join and has passed it to the AIIB's interim secretariat.

"The AIIB is open and inclusive," Ma said. "We welcome Taiwan to participate in the AIIB under an appropriate name."

Most countries including the US, due to pressure from China, do not recognize Taiwan.

While Taiwan is a member of the Asian Development Bank under the name of Taipei, China, it is not included in the United Nations, the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund.

The United States has urged countries to think twice about joining the AIIB until it could show sufficient standards of governance and environmental and social safeguards. A number of analysts, however, consider the United States is reluctant to recognize the AIIB mostly because it observes the latter as a rival to its own power.

China views Taiwan as a renegade province and has not ruled out the use of force to bring it under its control.

However, hostility has declined significantly since Taiwan's current president Ma Ying-Jeou took office in 2008 and the two sides have signed a number of trade and investment deals.