U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated senior Treasury Department official David Malpass, seen as a China hawk, as the next president of the World Bank.

If approved by the board of executive directors of the Washington-based development institution, Malpass, undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs, would succeed Jim Yong Kim who stepped down Feb. 1.

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Announcing his pick at the White House, Trump said Malpass would make sure U.S. taxpayer dollars are spent "effectively and wisely," and that he would focus on people living in extreme poverty and empowering women around the world.

Malpass is known as a critic of the World Bank's lending to China, a country critics say has been wielding "debt-trap" diplomacy toward developing countries.

A senior Trump administration official did not say whether Malpass would let the World Bank continue loans to China, but said shareholders in the bank and the management have agreed to steadily wind down lending to Beijing.

"There are aspects of World Bank policy that I think he intends to focus on, some of which are of interest to China," the official told journalists, requesting anonymity.

"So this is including improving the debt transparency and reforms to its lending programs, and basically focusing the country programs on those countries that are the poorest and most in need of financial resources."

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin hailed the nomination, saying that as the Treasury undersecretary, Malpass "successfully negotiated a capital increase and reform package to focus the World Bank on its core mission of lifting up the standard of living in lower-income countries."

Another senior administration official said Malpass has long been an advocate of pro-growth policies.

"In this new role, he will work toward broadly-shared growth in the countries that need it most, and he will focus on building and expanding a robust middle class in emerging economies," the official said.

The World Bank said it will accept nominations through March 14, and executive directors will select a new president before the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund hold annual spring meetings in April.

Traditionally, an American takes the helm of the World Bank, while a European takes up the post of managing director of the IMF, its twin multinational lender in Washington.