China confirmed the reception of Norway’s application to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on April 1.

“We have received the application. The AIIB is an open multilateral institute and welcomes countries in and out of Asia to apply for joining,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily press briefing.

Hua made the comments when asked to comment on Norway’s confirmation of its intention to join as a prospective founding member.

“Norway is a substantial contributor to global development efforts and wishes to join countries from Asia and other parts of the world in further refining the structure and mission of the AIIB,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende said in a press release on March 31.

March 31 was the application deadline and the number of founding members will be confirmed on April 15 as some applicants are still undergoing multilateral reviews, Hua said on March 31.

She confirmed that 30 nations have been approved as prospective founding members of AIIB by March 31.

With an expected initial subscribed capital of $50 billion, the AIIB will be an international financial institution to fund infrastructure projects in Asia and is expected to be formally established by the end of this year.

21 countries including China, India and Singapore signed a memorandum of understanding to found the bank in Beijing last October.