Residents in San Francisco, the sister city of Paris, lit candles outside the French consulate on Kearny Street to honor the memory victims in Friday's coordinated terrorist attacks on Paris. Lia Zhu / China Daily
The bloody terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday in which at least 120 people were killed and hundreds injured was carefully planned. And this "act of war", as French President Francois Hollande described it, overshadowed something else that was carefully planned on Friday.
This was the statement by Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, that she endorsed her staff's suggestion that renminbi is qualified to be included in the special drawing rights basket of currencies. The 24 directors of the IMF executive board will vote to decide at the end of this month.
If the terrorist attacks had not seized the media's attention, Lagarde's statement would certainly have made headlines. It is fairly likely that China's currency will be given the same status as the U.S. dollar, the British pound, Japanese yen and the euro, if United States does not abuse its veto power.
The terrorist attacks in the French capital are now expected to dominate the G20 summit, shifting the focus away from its planned economic agenda, with the G20 leaders collectively condemning the attacks.
Zhu Guangyao, vice-minister of China's Finance Ministry, called a media briefing before President Xi Jinping arrived in Turkey on Saturday, in which he strongly condemned the terrorists.
However, when asked to comment on Lagarde's statement, Zhu outlined some of the steps taken by China. He said within less than two months, Xi had exchanged ideas on international financial governance reform with the leaders of the United Sates and the United Kingdom, and during the visits to China by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande. Zhu said much consensus had been gained.
France, Germany, the UK and the U.S., plus Japan, still have the privilege of appointing directors to the IMF board, but the rest of directors should be elected among the IMF members.
Based on Zhu's briefing, it can be assumed that China's economic clout and its contribution to the global economy have gained the recognition of the developed economies. Even as its own growth has slowed to 6.9 percent, the country still contributed more than 30 percent of the world's new growth during the first three quarters of this year.
If China's currency can be smoothly incorporated into the IMF's SDR by the end of this month, it would be faster than originally expected.
However, since President Xi took office nearly three years ago, this process has sped up. At the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 2013, China decided to help set up the BRICS New Development Bank and to pool resources to form a reserve fund with emerging economies.
At the same time, China has led the forming of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and is advancing its Belt and Road Initiative. To put it simply, China has taken proactive approaches and committed itself to offering public goods for the world and strengthening the voice of developing countries in the international system.
Largarde knows well how much China has contributed to the IMF during the turbulent years since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008. She, along with global leaders, also recognizes China's determination to make the global governance system fairer and more inclusive.
The endorsement of the renminbi's internationalization will reflect the push for greater inclusiveness and the right direction for global development, something that can help realize a fairer and more peaceful world.
The author, Fu Jing, is China Daily chief correspondent in Brussels.
