BEIJING: French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Thursday she is “very positive” after talks with Chinese officials about her candidacy to head the International Monetary Fund and said Beijing's stake in the body should increase. Lagarde is on a global tour to promote her candidacy to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who quit after he was charged with sexually assaulting a New York hotel maid, an allegation he denies. The other declared candidate is Mexico's central bank governor, Agustin Carstens, who is due to visit Beijing next week. China has given no sign whom it supports but says it wants the next IMF managing director to be selected through “democratic consultations.” China, India and other developing countries have called for scrapping a tradition under which the IMF's top post has been a European since it was founded following World War II but they have yet to agree on their own candidate. Lagarde said she discussed her candidacy Wednesday with Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren, Vice Premier Wang Qishan and the central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan. “I am very positive about my trip to China,” Lagarde said at a news conference. She said she was “very confident” but it was too early to say if she would win. She said the selection should be “open, transparent and merit-based,” echoing Chinese statements. The IMF lends money to countries to help resolve balance of payments problems and has played a key role in trying to solve debt crises in Europe. Nominations for managing director close Friday and the body's 24-member executive board is to vote June 30. A foreign ministry spokesman said Lagarde and Chinese officials discussed her candidacy and reforms of global financial standards and institutions.
