French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde is in China seeking support for her bid to become the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

Lagarde arrived in Beijing Wednesday after a visit to India, where she held talks with her counterpart Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. She will hold two days of talks with high-ranking Chinese officials to discuss her bid to replace compatriot Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned last month after being charged with sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York City.

Lagarde and her chief rival for the post, Mexican central bank Governor Agustin Carstens, have been lobbying emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil. Those countries say their rising economic power should be recognized by ending a tradition under which a European is always chosen to head the IMF.

Both Lagarde and Carstens have visited Brazil to gain support for their campaigns.

The International Monetary Fund was established after World War Two to lend money to countries in financial trouble.