China is well on its way to become the third Asian nation to join the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) after Japan and the Republic of Korea.

Central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan and IADB head Luis Moreno signed a memorandum of understanding on the country's entry into the bank on Sunday, laying down a framework for formal negotiations between the two sides for membership.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the IADB's annual meeting, held March 16-20 in Guatemala City.

"China's membership in the IADB will help promote trade and economic cooperation between China and Latin American countries," the central bank said yesterday in a press release.

The IADB, set up in 1959, is the world's largest regional multilateral development bank. The 47-member bank is the primary source of financing for regional integration and development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The 47-member bank provided $6 billion in loans last year to its 26 borrowing members. The other 21, including the United States, Canada and some European and Asian countries, are non-borrowing members.

China's trade with Latin America has been growing rapidly in recent years. Bilateral trade volume surged to $70 billion last year from $18 billion in 2002.

China signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with Chile in 2005 and will jointly study a possible FTA with Peru within a month.

China became an IADB observer in 1991 and submitted its membership application two years later.

The United States, which holds 30 per cent of the bank's voting power, supports China's entry.

"China obviously is a big player, a global economic player, and that's obviously a good thing for Latin America," US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was quoted as saying at a press conference during the bank's annual meeting.