UN chief appoints Xu of China as deputy head of UNDP

UNITED NATIONS, June 26 (Xinhua)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday appointed Xu Haoliang of China as undersecretary-general and associate administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), said the press office of the UN chief.

Xu will succeed Usha Rao-Monari of India. Xu has been serving as UN assistant secretary-general and director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support at the UNDP since 2019.

Between 2013 and 2019, he was UNDP assistant administrator and director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific.

Xu brings to the position nearly three decades of experience in the field of international development.

He has fulfilled various roles within the United Nations, working in various field and headquarters assignments in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, said the press office.

Before his career at the United Nations, Xu worked in the field of civil engineering in China and the United States.

Xu holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from Tongji University in China, a master's degree in management science from the Stevens Institute of Technology in the United States, and a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University. He speaks Chinese, English and Russian.