China will join the Inter-American Development Bank as a donor member, building on its growing links with Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Asian power will become the 48th member country in the Washington, DC-based IDB, the single largest source of long-term lending for the region, said the bank in a statement released yesterday.

"We are thrilled to bring a large and growing economy like China into a community of nations that are working together to resolve the complex development challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean," said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno.

"It is a historic decision that takes China's thriving commercial relationship with our region into the development sphere," he noted.

China has agreed to contribute 350 million dollars to the IDB Group to bolster key programs at a time when the world economy is under duress.

The funds would be distributed as follows:

-- 125 million dollars will go to the IDB's Fund for Special Operations, which provides soft loans to Bolivia, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

-- 75 million dollars will go to multiple IDB grant funds to strengthen the institutional capacity of the state, including municipal governments and private sector institutions.

-- 75 million dollars is for an equity fund to be administered by the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), which lends to small and mid-sized private businesses.

-- 75 million dollars is to be administered by the Multilateral Investment Fund, the IDB arm that focuses on microenterprises.

"China's membership in IDB will provide both sides with a new platform and opportunity for increased two-way trade and investment and greater technological cooperation," said Zhou Wenzhong, Chinese ambassador to the United States. "This is a win-win decision that will serve everyone's interest."

"China will, after officially joining the IDB, cooperate closely with the bank, support the IDB in reducing poverty and promoting development, and share our experience with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean for the purpose of mutual benefit and common development," he added.

Over the past decade China has become an increasingly important commercial partner for many countries in this region. Trade between Latin America and the Caribbean and China jumped 13-fold since 1995, from 8.4 billion dollars to 110 billion dollars in 2007.

China is now this region's second biggest trading partner after the United States. In 1995 it was the 12th biggest, trailing Japan and Germany, among others.

"The flow of ideas, resources and technology between China and Latin America has grown exponentially in recent years," said Moreno. "China is an increasingly important commercial partner and investor for the region and a vast new market for our exports."

China's entrance was approved by other member countries in a month-long voting process ended on Oct. 15. The 26 Latin American and Caribbean borrowing nations own 50.01 percent of the IDB. The United States holds just over 30 percent of the shares.

China will purchase 184 shares, or 0.004 percent of the IDB's ordinary capital, which became available after the breakup of Yugoslavia. China will be the IDB's third East Asian member after Japan and South Korea, which joined in 1976 and 2005, respectively.

As an IDB member country, China will be represented at the Board of Executive Directors, sharing a chair with other donor nations. Executive directors oversee the day-to-day oversight operations, approve loans, establish policies and set interest rates, among other duties.

China will also have a seat on the Board of Governors, the IDB's top decision-making body. Governors, who are usually finance ministers or central bank presidents, meet once a year to review the bank's operations and make major policy decisions. Next year's meeting will be in Medellin, Colombia, marking the IDB's 50th anniversary.

The IDB employs about 2,000, with offices in its 26 borrowing member countries and in Tokyo and Paris.