This Day, That Year

Editor’s Note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up policy.

The People’s Republic of China assumed responsibility for China’s relations with the International Monetary Fund on April 17, 1980.

An IMF resident representative office in China was established in Beijing in 1991.

Marking a significant development to the IMF, since Oct 1, 2016, the renminbi has been a freely usable currency and included in the special drawing rights basket of currencies along with the dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound, as seen in the item from China Daily (right).

The Chinese currency is the first currency from a developing country to be added to the basket.

The SDR inclusion of the renminbi indicates the recognition by the international community of China’s economic ascendancy and structural reform efforts.

The SDR is an international reserve asset created by the IMF in 1969 to support its member countries’ official reserves.

Officially founded in 1946, the IMF is an organization of 189 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.

Last week, the ChinaIMF Capacity Development Center was established in Beijing.