BEIJING — China appointed a new top international trade negotiator on Wednesday amid tariff tensions with the U.S.
The government said that Li Chenggang has been appointed to replace Wang Shouwen, who participated in the trade negotiations for the 2020 trade deal between the China and the U.S.
The world’s two largest economies have been steadily increasing tariffs on each other’s goods since the U.S. raised tariffs on dozens of countries. China faces 145% taxes on exports to the U.S., while other countries were given a 90-day reprieve for most duties.
Earlier on Wednesday, China announced its economy expanded at a 5.4% annual pace in January-March, supported by strong exports. Analysts are forecasting that the world’s second largest economy will slow significantly in coming months, however, as tariffs on U.S. imports from China take effect.
Exports were a strong factor in China’s 5% annual growth rate in 2024, and the official target for this year remains at about 5%.
Beijing has hit back at the U.S. with 125% tariffs on American exports, while also stressing its determination to keep its own markets open to trade and investment.
In the near term, the tariffs will put pressure on China’s economy, but they won’t derail long-run growth, Sheng Laiyun, a spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, told reporters.
It wasn’t clear why China was changing negotiators but the change comes as Chinese officials say the country has multiple options to respond to U.S. actions, including relying more on its own vast market of 1.4 billion consumers, and on Europe and countries in the global south. But as China’s domestic consumption continues to languish, it will be difficult to replace the U.S. consumer.
China also imposed more export controls on rare earths, which include materials used in high-tech products, aerospace manufacturing and the defense sector.
Prior to his new appointment, Li spent about 4 1/2 years as China’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization, the body that governs global commerce and to which Beijing has appealed in its tariff dispute with the U.S.
He was also deputy permanent representative to the Chinese delegation to the United Nations office in Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland.
He has also served as an assistant minister at the Ministry of Commerce and director-general of the ministry’s Department of Treaty and Law.
Li has a bachelor’s degree in law from China’s elite Peking University and a master’s degree in economics of law from the University of Hamburg.
