Korea's top economic policymaker will visit China later this week for the first annual general meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the opening ceremony of the won-yuan direct market there, the ministry here said Thursday.

Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho will depart Friday to attend the first AIIB General Assembly in Beijing slated for Saturday, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

Yoo will deliver a keynote speech at the meeting about the role and future of the China-led development bank.

The AIIB meeting will decide the host country for the second annual assembly for next year, while South Korea was earlier picked as the sole candidate country.

Initiated by China, the AIIB was formally launched earlier this year, with 57 founding members including South Korea, in a bid to promote economic growth in the Asian region by supporting infrastructure investment.

Korea has a 3.81 percent stake, the fifth largest among member countries. The Korean finance minister will also participate in a ceremony on Friday to celebrate the opening of the market for direct trading of the Korean won and the Chinese yuan.

The Chinese won-yuan exchange market is a follow-up to a summit meeting between Korean President Park Geun-hye and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in October 2015.

Korea's Hana Bank and Woori Bank have been designated as the clearing banks to take charge of won-yuan settlements and payments. The direct trade market in Seoul was already opened in December 2014 with its daily turnover reaching an average of $2.26 billion as of end-November last year. (Yonhap)