Bank of China vice president Zhu Min has been appointed vice governor of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, a person close to the matter told Caijing on Oct. 13.

He might be named vice president of the International Monetary Fund in the future, with his central bank experience as transitional, the source said.

If confirmed, Zhu would be the first Chinese to take a senior management position within the IMF, which has long been dominated by Western countries. It would also mark China's continued rise in the global finance market.

On May 31, 2008, Lin Yifu became the first Chinese to be appointed vice president and chief economist of the World Bank.

Zhu joined Bank of China in 1996 after working for six years as an economist at the World Bank.

At their annual meeting in October in Istanbul, the IMF and World Bank reaffirmed their commitment to giving developing countries more say within the two organizations, and vowed to reach agreement on the reform of voting rights before the 2010 spring meeting.

IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said at the meeting she wanted to give emerging economies a greater voice.

In September, China agreed to purchase 32 billion special drawing rights, valued at about US$50 billion, via the IMF's first ever bond issue.

Bank of China closed the Oct. 13 morning session up 0.5 percent at 4.02 yuan in Shanghai and up 3.3 percent at HK$4.40 in Hong Kong.