Beijing sees Kim as promising candidate

BEIJIN - Agence France-Presse

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) and Dartmouth College head Jim Yong Kim (C) listen while US President Barack Obama speaks at the White House on March 23. AFP Photo

U.S. President Barack Obama’s nomination of a Korean-born Ivy League college head to lead the World Bank was “encouraging”, a commentary in China’s state news agency Xinhua said on March 24.

Obama on March 23 named Jim Yong Kim, a US-raised physician, as the US nominee to succeed Robert Zoellick, who is scheduled to leave the World Bank in June.

“It is encouraging for U.S. President Barack Obama to pick Jim Yong Kim, president of Dartmouth College and former director of the HIV/AIDS department at the World Health Organization, as the US candidate who is very likely to take over the helm of the international development organization,” the commentary said.

Obama’s decision “has demonstrated that he has begun to take heed of the demands from the developing world for an expanded role within the global institution,” the state news agency added.
“It can also be taken as a kind of improvement for Washington to choose a development expert, instead of politicians or bankers, to lead the World Bank.”

However, the commentary said that “the very fact that yet another American citizen will lead the global poverty-reducing organization again more than six decades after its founding is still disappointing to many around the world.”

The United States’ selection of Kim to lead the 187-nation development lender makes him an instant favorite to get the bank’s top seat.

He is challenged by two other candidates: Colombian former finance minister Jose Antonio Ocampo and Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

The Chinese government has not yet indicated which candidate it supports.