US President George W. Bush yesterday nominated Robert Zoellick, a former US trade representative, as the new president of the World Bank, describing him as a "committed internationalist".

Zoellick, 53, will succeed Paul Wolfowitz, who is stepping down on June 30 after a special bank panel found that he broke bank rules when he arranged a hefty compensation package in 2005 for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, a bank employee.

Wolfowitz's resignation had led to intense speculation about his successor with a wide array of names doing the rounds including British Prime Minister Tony Blair who steps down in late June.

Zoellick, a political veteran both at home and on the international stage, is known for a ready command of facts and figures as well as being a demanding boss.

"Zoellick is an ideal choice because he has vast financial experience - which is obviously required for the job - and is a political moderate, which will make him more easily acceptable to the bank's 24-member executive board as well as the international community," Yuan Peng, deputy director of Institute of American Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told China Daily yesterday.

"The World Bank needs a boss who is influential, experienced and thinks strategically. Zoellick is such a man," Yuan said.

As Bush's first trade representative, Zoellick helped launch the Doha round of world trade talks and completed negotiations to bring China into the World Trade Organization (WTO). He continued to focus on China as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's top deputy and is regarded as a China-hand.

Zoellick left his job as deputy secretary of state last year to join Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs.

He had been tipped as a candidate last year to become Treasury Secretary, but that job went to Goldman Sachs chief executive Henry Paulson.

"He has a good understanding of China and tries to study China from a long-term and strategic perspective," Yuan said.

Given that Zoellick is optimistic about China's development and has called for more engagement, his presidency is likely to see more contacts and cooperation between China and World Bank, Yuan said.

But Zoellick's nomination has generated mixed feelings at home. "He's an outstanding choice. What he brings to the bank is an ability to get things done, an ability to work with people and an excellent reputation among foreign policy types across the world ... something we badly need," former US Secretary of State James Baker, who has worked closely with Zoellick, said.

Baker acknowledged that Zoellick does not have extensive development experience, but said he was a pragmatist who "knows how to build coalitions and achieve consensus" - crucial at a large bureaucratic organization like the World Bank.

Others were concerned about another Bush loyalist heading the bank and saw this as a missed opportunity.

"The second, high-ranking Bush administration official in a row, I think it is a mistake," said Representative Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.

The United States has traditionally selected the head of the World Bank since it was founded 60 years ago, while Europe has chosen the head of its sister organization, the International Monetary Fund.

Bush's selection must be approved by the World Bank's 24-member board, which has never blocked a nomination in the past.

China Daily/Agencies