World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim on Tuesday welcomed a new multilateral infrastructure bank proposed by China, saying there was a "massive need" for new investment.

China, which aired the idea of creating the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in October to fund projects in Asia, has said it would likely be the largest shareholder in the bank, with a stake of as much as 50 percent.

"Any estimate of the infrastructure needs in the developing countries start at about $1 trillion a year," Kim said at a briefing in Beijing, noting that the figure greatly exceeded private sector investment of about $150 billion a year.

"So we welcome any new organizations. We think the need for new investment in infrastructure is massive."

The World Bank can work with any new infrastructure bank once it becomes a reality, be it a bank led by the emerging BRICS nations or the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Kim said.

The BRICS group, comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is also in talks to create a $100 billion development bank and has reached broad agreement on the project, Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong said on Monday.

Praising China's progress in financial reforms, Kim reiterated the World Bank's forecast for its economy to grow 7.6 percent this year before cooling a little to expand 7.5 percent in 2015.

"We are very encouraged about the fact that, despite a lower growth rate, the Chinese government continues on the path of these reforms," Kim said.