Christine Lagarde, chief of the International Monetary Fund, was received warmly as she launched her microblog on Weibo.com, China's Twitter-like platform that has been joined by a growing number of Western luminaries and celebrities such as Bill Gates.

Christine Lagarde,Managing Director,IMF.[File photo]

"Hello Sina weibo, looking forward to sharing updates here. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, IMF," Lagarde said in her first message in English on the microblog on Monday.

Lagarde immediately received welcoming responses from Chinese Web users who followed her on the platform and greeted her in Chinese, English and French.

By 9pm yesterday, nine hours after her first message, her first microblog had been reposted 1450-plus times with 800-plus comments. Lagarde is already followed by 41,252 fans.

"Welcome to the Weibo, Miss Lagarde. Hope you can enjoy it and understand what China is through it," Web user "CAT" wrote in English.

The platform's operator Sina.com said it had verified the account to be genuine, but some Web users still doubted Lagarde was truly typing the words.

An official with Sina confirmed with Qianjiang Evening News that Lagarde was behind the messages and "she launched the microblog because she planned to come to China and she wanted to communicate with Chinese Web users."

The official said that many international financial institutions, such as the IMF and NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations), have logged onto the platform since last year, seeking communication with Chinese Web users.

The platform Weibo.com is China's equivalent to Twitter, allowing Web users to send short messages for free to socialize with others or to inform people. Since last year, the platform has attracted a growing number of Western celebrities who are also known by Chinese people.

In September 2010, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates launched his microblog, which is updated whenever he writes a message on Twitter. So far Gates has gained over 2.1 million followers.

British actress Emma Watson, known for her popular role in the Harry Potter movie series, has 510,000-plus fans since she sent her first message on Weibo in July.