China′s currency， the yuan， will enter the elite league after it got the green light

from the International Monetary Fund to join its basket of reserve currencies.

The IMF′s executive board voted on Monday， in favor of allowing the yuan to join its

benchmark foreign exchange basket， known as Special Drawing Rights， or SDR.

The IMF says the Chinese currency met all existing criteria，... and effective October

first next year， the yuan will be included in the SDR basket as a fifth currency， along

with the U.S. dollar， euro， British pound and Japanese yen.

The yuan will represent approximately eleven percent of the reserve basket， above both

the pound and yen， which will each make up about eight percent.

The dollar will remain as the predominant SDR currency， representing about 41 percent

of the basket. It marks the first time an additional currency

has been added to the SDR basket in 35 years.