Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan to join Beijing-backed development bank

``Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan will join 24 other nations as founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, China's Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday... AIIB, launched in Shanghai in October but still under development, is seen by the United States as a challenge to the Western-dominated World Bank and Asian Development Bank, potentially diluting U.S. strategic influence in the region, analysts have said.''