David Dollar, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution and former World Bank official, told the Journal that the resident board costs the World Bank some $70 million annually. There was often a certain tension between the management and the board members whose resident staff wanted to find out about projects at an early stage.

Chen Fengying, a researcher at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said a non-resident board of directors would give more room for the management to perform.

The latter's recruitment will be open to global talent, which will help make professional decisions, rather than making the bank an instrument of China's foreign policy, as many outsiders fear.

The board, in which China has more seats, retains decision power on important issues, she said.

"As long as China maintains the largest shareholding and the president position, which should go to a Chinese national for the first term, we won't worry over conceding influence," Xiao said.