Goldman Sachs Partner Cai Jinyong to Head World Bank Unit

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim appointed a Chinese partner at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to head the poverty fighting institution’s private-sector arm.

Cai Jinyong, chief executive of Goldman Sachs’s China securities venture, will become executive vice president and chief executive officer of the Washington-based International Finance Corporation effective Oct. 1, the World Bank said in an e-mail statement today.

Cai, 53, becomes the first Chinese national to hold the position, confirming the nation’s influence at the World Bank two months after chief economist Justin Lin left. IFC, which committed $15 billion last year, focuses on the private sector of developing economies by making loans and taking equity stakes in companies.

“I am pleased that a world-class financial and development professional like Jinyong has decided to bring his considerable talent to the work” of IFC, Kim said.

“With his extensive knowledge of global financial markets and investment climates, he’ll help IFC identify sound, strategic private sector investments and public-private partnerships that will help reduce poverty and create greater prosperity for people in the developing world,” Kim said.

Cai started his career at the World Bank before joining Morgan Stanley and then China International Capital Corp., now the country’s biggest investment bank, at its inception, according to the World Bank.

He joined Goldman Sachs in 2000, was named a managing director in 2001 and a partner in 2006. Prior to his appointment, he headed Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities Co.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sandrine Rastello in Washington at srastello@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chris Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net