ABSTRACT
On 15 May 1980, the Executive Directors of the World Bank (WB) approved the replacement of the Republic of China by the People's Republic of China (PRC) as China's representative in the WB. A key actor responsible for bringing China into the WB was Shahid Husain, a Pakistani national. He was the WB's regional vice president for East Asia and the Pacific at the time and enjoyed McNamara's full confidence. The real breakthrough came only after the normalization of bilateral US-PRC relations on 1 January 1979. It was shortly thereafter that the PRC's first ambassador to the US, Chai Zemin, on behalf of the government in Beijing, approached McNamara to officially express the wish of his authorities to join the WB. After the board meeting of 15 May 1980, Shahid Husain visited China many times in his capacity as regional VP.
