BEIJING -- China's central bank governor on Thursday said the high-level leadership structure of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should better reflect the changes in the global economic layout and emerging markets.

The G20 has decided that the leaders and high-level managers of international financial organizations should be selected through open and performance-based programs and it will help the IMF chief to lead the fund more effectively, said Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), or the central bank.

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"Amid a very serious charge, Strauss-Kahn has resigned his position as the IMF chief, the IMF's effective operation is in trouble and I feel very sorry for that," Zhou said responding to a reporter's question on Strauss-Kahn's resignation.

The IMF has played a key role in fighting the global financial crisis, Zhou said.

Now the global economy is recovering from the global financial crisis, but the European sovereignty debt problems are volatile and sensitive and it's necessary to have support from a powerful IMF to handle the difficulties faced by Europe and to ensure the global economy moves in a powerful, sustainable and balanced direction, Zhou said.

The IMF said in a statement that its managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has resigned.

Strauss-Kahn denied the charges in his letter of resignation, saying "I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me."

Strauss-Kahn is under police custody in the United States after he was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York.