The UNDP Resident Representative is the UNDP Administrator's representative at the country level, and head of the country office being ultimately accountable for UNDP’s programme and operations, including for the quality and sustainability of UNDP interventions on the ground.
Ms. Beate Trankmann took up her post as UNDP Resident Representative in China in October 2019. This is her second posting to China following a turn at the beginning of her professional journey with UNDP in the late 1990s.
Since then, Ms Trankmann has had a diverse career in the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently she served as United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for Mongolia. She also served as the UNDP Country Director in Indonesia further to appointments with UNDP in Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Prior to joining UNDP, Ms. Trankmann was a research fellow at the European Institute for Asian Studies in Brussels, advising European Union institutions on EU-Asia relations.
Educated in France, China (Taiwan) and Germany, Ms. Trankmann holds a master’s degree in political science and a bachelor’s degree in China studies, both from University of Hamburg.
James George assumed his post as UNDP Deputy Resident Representative for China in January 2022. He is a development practitioner with more than 25 years of experience with both United Nations and the private sector.
Before joining UNDP China, he was the UNDP Country Programme Advisor for the Asia Pacific region based in Bangkok and covering 28 countries (August 2019 - January 2022). From 2017-2019, he was seconded to the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary-General in New York, where he held the portfolio on implementation and strategic partnerships to advance the Sustainable Development Goals; sustainable development in Africa; and Special Initiatives of the UN Secretary General.
From 2002-2017, Mr. George held several positions with the United Nations, including UNDP Regional Partnership Advisor and UNDP Regional Programme Specialist based in Bangkok; Assistant Resident Representative for UNDP Multi Country Office for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam based in Kuala Lumpur; and Programme Officer for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific based in Incheon. Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr. George started his career in the mid-1990s with private consulting firms in Malaysia focused on strategic national development initiatives, public sector reforms, and digital transformation.
Mr. George has authored a number of UNDP’s regional publications on leveraging science, technology and innovation as gamechangers for accelerating sustainable development in the Asia and the Pacific and been published in international journals on public sector reform strategies.
He is a Chevening Scholar of the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and holds a post graduate degree in international development and politics with a focus on regional economic integration and development of trading blocs in the Asia Pacific region.
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