IMF hopes making China No 3 will bring changes

China will become the third-strongest member of the International Monetary Fund under a plan approved by the institution's board at the weekend.

The plan would let China take more responsibility in the global economy, and "may have an influence on the behaviour of the Chinese authorities", fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in Washington.

"They were willing to be better represented in the IMF, which shows that they care about multilateral institutions, and I expect that they will behave, having in mind the importance of their role," he said.

Acting on an October 23 deal by finance chiefs of the Group of 20 nations, the IMF agreed to shift more than 6 per cent of voting rights to "dynamic" developing countries.

That would give more say to nations such as Brazil and South Korea, while weakening the clout of European members including Belgium and Germany. "Advanced" European countries will also give up two seats on the board under the plan.

The aim is to make the 65-year-old institution a better reflection of a world economy that was pulled out of the recession and is still being driven by growth in emerging markets.

The planned changes come at a time when the IMF has been asked to help the G20 monitor global trade imbalances and exchange rates amid tensions between its members over whose policies are most damaging to a balanced global recovery.

The plan, which leaves the United States as the fund's largest member, followed by Japan, requires the approval of an 85 per cent majority of the 187 members.

Strauss-Kahn said there was no reason for the new Republican majority in the US House of Representatives to delay the approval process because it was in America's interest.

"We catch up with the reality," he said. "The ranking of the countries is really the ranking they have in the global economy."

Strauss-Kahn and other officials have tried to link access to more clout at the IMF to the need to act differently on the global stage, a hint for China to accelerate its currency's appreciation.

- BLOOMBERG