China And The Imf Reform

A stable monetary system is the core of the international financial order, which is one of major international public goods. The means of securing a stable international financial order includes the hegemony approach and the international regime approach. As the most important institutional framework of international financial cooperation, the International Monetary Fund has been under the control of the United States' hegemonic power. Therefore, its legitimacy and effectiveness have inherent shortcomings. Developing countries and developed countries in the IMF are seriously unequal in terms of representation, while the IMF's own lack of capacity attributes to its failure to provide effective global governance. In the hegemonic system, international public goods keep leading to "Free Ride" behavior and inevitable decline of the hegemony. In the latest global financial crisis, IMF has been undergoing a series of reforms and caught worldwide attention.Due to the lack of representation in IMF, China used to adopt an approach of "free-rider" in the international regime. However, China's attitude towards the IMF reform has changed in a positive way since the break of 2008 global financial crisis. As the hegemony can not continue effectively providing international public goods, China and other emerging economies and developing countries have abandoned the old approach of "free-riders", and actively promote the International Monetary Fund reform. The ultimate goal of China is to replace the U.S. monetary hegemony with supra-sovereign reserve currency and multilateral cooperative regimes.Through participation in governance reform and capacity reform of the IMF, China has actively put forward initiatives of reform, coordinated negotiation positions of various stake holders, and achieved initial results in IMF reform by enhancing its legitimacy as an international regime and effectiveness of providing public goods. In this reform, China has remarkably elevated its international status and undertakes corresponding responsibilities, reshaping its role as an active participant in international cooperation. The International Monetary Fund reform has not just helped China to establish a responsible image, but also promoted the international system to transform from a hegemonic system to a genuinely multilateral one.