IMF sees China stimulus helping global economy

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - China's massive government spending package to boost domestic demand is "good news" that will help the global economy ride out the financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund's managing director said on Sunday.

"The IMF is arguing for rather a long time that China should shift its policy from export-led growth to a more domestic-driven growth," Dominique Strauss-Kahn told Reuters after a meeting of G20 finance officials in Brazil's business capital Sao Paulo.

"So I am very happy to see the decision that has been made by the Chinese. It's a huge package. It will have an influence not only on the world economy in supporting demand, but also a lot of influence on the Chinese economy itself and I think it is good news for correcting imbalances."

Chinese state media reported on Sunday that China had a approved a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package for the world's fourth-largest economy.

(Reporting by Anna Willard, Writing by Todd Benson)