RMB's SDR inclusion reflects expectation for China's bigger role in world financial system

BEIJING - By admitting China's renminbi (RMB) into its benchmark currency basket on Monday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave China a big hug for its painstaking and determined financial reform.

The move of the IMF, a 188-member multilateral financial organization, testifies to the expectation of the global community for China to play a bigger role in the international financial system to fit the Asian country's own economic and political heft.

In spite of its belatedness, the Chinese yuan's inclusion in the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket of currencies is an official acknowledgment of China's willingness to interact with the whole world in a win-win manner and sends a clear signal to the global community that China is a trustworthy and reliable partner.

It is a boon and historic step forward for China and the international community on their way toward more win-win cooperation and deeper mutual trust.

For China, the inclusion will lend more financial and political impetus to its ongoing financial reform, expand openness of its capital market and promote the internationalization of its currency.

For other countries, a more internationalized yuan and a more opened capital market in China will not only help diversify their foreign reserves to descend financial risks, but also release more dividend for China's neighbors and partners and generate more chances of investment and win-win results.

Particularly, the yuan's inclusion in the SDR basket of currencies serves as a milestone for the emerging countries.

As a reflection of the changes in the global economic landscape, the inclusion indicates a rise of the voice of the emerging market in the international monetary system and is a sound response to the reform requests of the international community for the global financial system.

Like what the People's Bank of China said in a statement, the inclusion of yuan in the SDR basket will benefit both China and the rest of the world, and it also means that the world community expects China to play a bigger role in the international economic and financial systems.