China has formally confirmed the appointment of Li Chenggang as its top trade negotiator, removing him from his previous post as permanent representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO), state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday.
The announcement was part of a routine list of ambassadorial changes approved by President Xi Jinping. Although Li’s appointment as chief international trade negotiator was initially made in April, the formal removal from his post at the WTO comes at a time of escalating trade tensions between the United States and China.
The timing of this announcement is significant. In recent weeks, the US has imposed sweeping 100% tariffs on all Chinese goods, while Beijing has responded by curbing exports of rare earths and critical materials.
Who is Li Chenggang?
Li Chenggang, 58, a former WTO envoy and vice commerce minister, has been a key figure in four consecutive rounds of trade talks between the US and China and has also worked to prevent a full-blown trade war, Reuters reported.
A graduate of Peking University and Hamburg, Germany, Li has extensive knowledge of WTO law, having previously held key roles in the Ministry of Commerce, including the departments overseeing treaties and law and fair trade.
Li’s surprise appointment as chief negotiator in April came just days after Beijing announced 125% retaliatory tariffs on US imports, replacing veteran trade negotiator Wang Shouwen.
Controversy with an American official
Li was recently summoned by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at a public event, where Bessent described Li as “unhinged” last week.
Bessant also said that “the deputy minister who appeared here on August 28 with very inflammatory expressions has gone mad,” adding that the person was very “disrespectful,” Reuters reported.
Li’s visit to Washington in August ruffled feathers for the Trump administration as he arrived uninvited, demanded high-level meetings, “repeated China’s false narratives and lectured the Americans,” the news agency said.
Scott Bessent has since sought to de-escalate tensions ahead of an expected summit between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later this month at the APEC summit in South Korea.
New WTO representative
After Li Chenggang’s reassignment, Li Yongjie has now assumed the position of China’s WTO representative. It officially presented its credentials on September 29, the trade body said on its Weibo social media account.
