The International Monetary Fund (IMF) needs "substantial reforms" of its voting and governance structure to fulfill its ambitious agenda including expansion of lending resources, Chinese economists have said.

The IMF has put forward a five-point agenda for the upcoming G20 summit in London on April 2 to bail out countries suffering from the worst post-Great Depression financial crisis.

Despite Norway's commitment to contribute $4.5 billion, the IMF will face severe challenges unless there is "substantial" reform on voting rights and governance structure to bolster its credibility and pool more funds from emerging economies, the economists said.