Lagarde chooses new IMF secretary

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on March 7 announced Jianhai Lin as the next secretary of the Fund.

Lin, 57, is the first Chinese national to be selected for this post. He has been acting director of the secretary's department since November 2011, when Siddharth Tiwari was appointed as director of the Strategy, Policy and Review Department.

Lin studied at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China, and University of California at Berkeley. He earned his doctorate in international finance from the George Washington University in Washington, DC. Before joining the IMF, he worked in the financial sector and academia. Lin's appointment will take effect on March 22.

Speaking about her selection, Lagarde commended Lin's "wide-ranging Fund career in both country and policy work". She said this breadth of experience had been of "particular benefit to the IMF, where Jianhai's skill in building consensus among staff, management and our global membership has been essential for the productive work of the executive board during one of the most challenging periods in the Fund's history."

The Secretary's Department has operational responsibility for the 24-member executive board of the IMF, and also serves as the regular point of contact with the Fund's 187 member countries on institutional matters. This includes responsibility for working with the IMF's Board of Governors, and the policy-guiding International Monetary and Financial Committee.