The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday welcomed China's yuan into its elite reserve-currency basket, recognizing the growing power of China in the global economy. The yuan, also known as the renminbi, will join the U.S. dollar, euro, Japanese yen, and British pound next year in the basket of currencies the IMF uses as an international reserve asset. The yuan's entry into the basket takes effect in October 2016. The IMF decision is "an important milestone in the integration of the Chinese economy into the global financial system," said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. "It is also a recognition of the progress that the Chinese authorities have made in the past years in reforming China's monetary and financial system." The move by the IMF executive board—representing the lending institution's 188 member countries—solidifies China's ambition to see the yuan achieve global status as one of the world's top currencies.