China Appoints New Trade Negotiator as Tensions With US Intensify

China maintains a hardline stance on April 16, demanding that Washington cancel tariffs against China before negotiations.

Li Chenggang, China's Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), gestures during an interview with Reuters aside of a ministerial meeting to discuss a draft agreement on curbing subsidies for the fisheries industry in Geneva, Switzerland on July 15, 2021. Denis Balibouse/Reuters

As trade tensions with the United States simmer, the Chinese regime has brought a seasoned trade negotiator back to Beijing.

Li Chenggang, China’s envoy at the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 2021, has been appointed as the country’s international trade representative and vice commerce minister, the human resources and social security ministry said in an online statement on April 16.

Li succeeds Wang Shouwen, who was the main representative in the commerce ministry’s trade talks with U.S. officials during President Donald Trump’s first term. It remains unclear whether Wang will take on a new role.

Sign of Li’s promotion first emerged earlier this month when he was referred to as “leader” of the commerce ministry during a symposium with domestic entrepreneurs on March 31, according to a readout from the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top central planning agency, which organized the meeting in Beijing.

Beijing didn’t disclose the reasons for the reshuffle within the commerce ministry’s leadership.

The changes come amid escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington.

While dozens of countries have reached out to Washington seeking to negotiate bilateral agreements in response to Trump’s plans for reciprocal tariffs, Beijing has chosen to raise its own tariffs on U.S. goods and has vowed not to back down.

Trump has signaled openness to striking a deal with Beijing, and on April 15, the White House said that “the ball is in China’s court” for trade talks.

China maintained a hardline stance on April 16 in response to Washington’s comments. Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, told reporters at a regular briefing in Beijing that Washington should stop “exerting extreme pressure.”

The April 16 announcement came as Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited Malaysia, following meetings with Vietnamese leaders during a two-day stop in Hanoi. His final destination is Cambodia.

Analysts have said that Xi’s tour fits his usual travel pattern, but the timing indicates Beijing’s desire to strengthen ties with its neighbors in response to the U.S. tariffs.

Coincidentally, a senior U.S. official was set to embark on a tour to Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, and Hawaii starting April 16, the State Department announced on April 15.

China’s New Trade Representative

Amid ongoing tensions with Washington, Beijing’s decision to replace the country’s international trade negotiators has sparked speculation about potential engagement between the two countries.

Li’s background in international trade negotiations signals that Chinese officials “may be looking to talk” with the Trump administration, Edward Huang, an economic commentator based in Taiwan, told The Epoch Times.

He described the personnel changes as “unusual” considering the current geopolitical climate, adding that Beijing may be setting the stage for the next steps.

China expert Wang He offered a different perspective.

Both Wang Showen and Li are technocrats with experience in trade discussions, and their actions and attitudes are ultimately guided by the directives of Beijing’s top officials, especially when engaging with foreign officials, according to Wang He.

“They are more of a performer,” Wang He told The Epoch Times. “When engaging in international trade talks, the Chinese Communist Party’s representatives are acting on behalf of a larger system rather than expressing their personal opinions.”

Li, 58, is a veteran trade negotiator whose experience engaging with foreign trade officials dates back to 2000, when China sought to join the WTO, according to his book on China’s involvement in the WTO published in 2011.

According to the commerce ministry’s website, Li has a bachelor’s degree in law from China’s prestigious Peking University and a master’s degree in law and economics from Germany’s University of Hamburg.

Throughout his decades-long career at the Ministry of Commerce, he served in key positions, including as director at the treaty and law department, which manages trade disputes involving China at the WTO.

In January 2017, he took on the role of assistant minister of commerce, according to the human resources ministry. Later that July, after the regime failed to trim the United States’ massive trade deficit with China within 100 days, as requested by Trump, Li was named a member of the Customs Tariff Commission, a state body overseeing tariff regulations and adjusting import tax rates.

In February 2021, China confirmed Li’s appointment as the country’s ambassador to the WTO and as deputy representative to the United Nations’ offices in Geneva.

Li has repeatedly criticized the United States and its allies at the Geneva-based trade institution in an attempt to defend Beijing, while deflecting attention away from criticism directed at the regime’s trade practices and policies.

In a Feb. 19 speech, the Chinese ambassador accused Washington of breaching the WTO’s rules when it enacted its tariff plan, according to the statement released on the commerce ministry’s website.

In response, U.S. Ambassador David Bisbee pointed to the fact that China remains a non-market economic system, failing to uphold its commitments since joining the WTO more than two decades ago.

“During this period, China has produced a long record of violating, disregarding, and evading WTO rules,” Bisbee said, according to the statement published on the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s website.

“China has also sought to frustrate WTO oversight and accountability mechanisms, including through its poor record of adhering to its WTO transparency obligations.

“China’s approach is fundamentally at odds with the multilateral trading system. However, as has been evident for some time, the WTO has been unable to effectively address China’s predatory non-market economic system.”