VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Japan said on Saturday it would extend around $6 billion in development aid to Mekong region countries, as China prepares to launch a new institutional lender seen as encroaching on the regional clout of Tokyo and ally Washington.

The European Union will briefly put aside worries about Greece to broaden its relations with China at a summit in Brussels on Monday, hoping for Chinese investment in Europe's new infrastructure fund and support for a global climate deal.

One of China's biggest ever foreign policy successes will take concrete shape on Monday when delegates from 57 countries sign an agreement on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing.

U.S. officials will press their Chinese counterparts on currency policy at high-level talks next week, and have not taken off the table the possibility that the United States may one day join a China-led infrastructure bank, a senior U.S. Treasury official said.

China will pledge a multi-billion dollar investment in Europe's new infrastructure fund at a summit on June 29 in Brussels, according to a draft communique seen by Reuters - Beijing's latest round of chequebook diplomacy to win greater influence.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that China's economic slowdown should not worry markets as there was no risk of a hard landing, and emphasized that a move to raise U.S. rates should be viewed as a positive sign for the world's largest economy.

Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to provide $110 billion in aid for Asian infrastructure projects, as China prepares to launch a new institutional lender that is seen as encroaching on the regional financial clout of Tokyo and its ally Washington.

Founding members of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will hold a three-day meeting in Singapore this week to discuss operational policies for the establishment of the institution.

Leaders of Asian and African nations called on Wednesday for a new global order that is open to emerging economic powers and leaves the "obsolete ideas" of Bretton Woods institutions in the past.

The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will be lean, clean and green, its interim chief said, playing down concerns over transparency and standards governing the institution.

Iran has been accepted as a founding member of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported late on Tuesday.

The United States expects the trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation, which is seen as an important step to speed free trade deals, will be passed by the Congress over the next month, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

Japan remains cautious about signing up to the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), indicating that Tokyo will miss the March 31 deadline for application, but both Taiwan and Norway said they would seek to join the institution.

Denmark has applied to join the Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Bank (AIIB), China's Ministry of Finance said on Sunday, becoming the latest European power to join the institution despite misgivings of the United States.

South Korea hopes its infrastructure companies will benefit from the country joining the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the finance ministry said on Friday.