It will be "a good thing" if the Philippines joins the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang in a news conference on Wednesday.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino has approved the country's participation in the AIIB, Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The Philippine Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the country will be signing the Articles of Agreement of the AIIB before the end of the year.

"The Philippines stands to gain from signing on as a Founding Member. We can look forward to deepening our country's technical expertise in infrastructure as we expand bankable projects," said Purisima,as quoted by Xinhua.

When asked whether the South China Sea disputes between China and the Philippines will affect the Philippines founding member status, Lu said that the disputes and whether the Philippines will be able to conduct business like other AIIB members are two different things. The AIIB is running on regulations agreed on by all members, he said.

Xinhua contributed to the story.