The International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde named Lin Jianhai as IMF secretary on Wednesday.

"Jianhai has had a wide-ranging fund career in both country and policy work. This breadth of experience has 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," said Lagarde in a statement.

Lin was born in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, in 1955 and studied at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and at the University of California, Berkeley. He holds a doctorate in international finance from George Washington University. Before coming to the IMF in 1989, he worked in the financial sector and academia.

Lin will lead the IMF secretary's department that is responsible for the operations of the IMF 24-member executive board and serves as a main contact point for the institution's 187 member countries, according to an IMF statement.

Lin's appointment will take effect on March 22. Lin, who has been acting secretary since November, will succeed Siddharth Tiwari of India, who was named a policy director.

In July, Lagarde selected Chinese economist Zhu Min as the first Chinese to hold the post of a deputy managing director.

In New York

Yuweizhang@chinadailyusa.com