The People's Republic of China has informed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) it will accept the obligations of Article VIII, Sections 2,3, and 4 of the IMF's Articles of Agreement, effective December 1, 1996, a move welcomed by IMF Managing Director, Michel Camdessus.

In a statement issued in Washington today, Camdessus said: "This marks yet another milestone in China's historic transformation and decisive progress toward further integration in the world market economy. The achievement of current account convertibility will further strengthen domestic and international confidence in a very promising reform process. This step, and the planned implementation of other structural reforms, augur well for China and will be of great benefit to the world economy."

IMF members accepting the obligations of Article VIII undertake to refrain from imposing restrictions on the making of payments and transfers for current international transactions or from engaging in a discriminatory currency arrangement or multiple currency practices without IMF approval.