IN a historic decision, the International Monetary Fund board agreed on Friday to boost the voting power of big emerging economies and make China the third leading voice in the global lender.

"This historicagreement is the most fundamental governance overhaul in the fund's 65-year history and the biggest ever shift of influence in favor of emerging markets and developing countries to recognize their growing role in the global economy," IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a news conference in Washington.

Under the deal, first clinched by finance ministers of the Group of 20 leading economies in South Korea last month, 6 percent of IMF voting shares will be transferred to "dynamic" emerging market countries from industrial economies.

The move would lift China above Germany, France and Britain to third place behind the United States and Japan. It would also lift other large emerging powers India, Brazil and Russia into the top 10 of the 187-member institution.

Emerging economies have gained more clout in the IMF over the past five years, but Friday's shift is by far the most significant, amounting to an overhaul of the global economic order established when the IMF was set up after World War II.

The move doubles IMF member quotas, boosting the lender's resources by about US$755.7 billion at current exchange rates, the fund said.

• international [,intə´næʃənəl] a.国际的，世界的 (初中英语单词)
• agreement [ə´gri:mənt] n.同意；一致；协议 (初中英语单词)
• fundamental [,fʌndə´mentl] a.基本的 n.原理 (初中英语单词)
• director [di´rektə] n.指导者；....长；导演 (初中英语单词)
• conference [´kɔnfərəns] n.讨论(会)；会谈 (初中英语单词)
• finance [´fainæns] n.财政；金融 vt.资助 (初中英语单词)
• industrial [in´dʌstriəl] a.工业的，产业的 (初中英语单词)
• institution [,insti´tju:ʃən] n.建立；制定；制度 (初中英语单词)
• historic [his´tɔrik] a.有历史意义的 (高中英语单词)
• brazil [brə´zil] n.巴西 (高中英语单词)
• significant [sig´nifikənt] a.重要的；意义重大的 (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• monetary [´mʌnitəri] a.金融的；货币的 (英语六级单词)