 "Li Chenggang, China's Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), gestures during an interview. Reuters")
China on Wednesday appointed a new international trade representative as tensions with the US continue to simmer. Li Chenggang, who will be working for the Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom), will now replace Wang Shouwen.
The new appointment comes at a time when the US and China are engaged in rapid tit-for-tat hikes in tariffs, with the direct consequences suffered by stock markets prompting investors to call for a de-escalation in trade tensions.
US President Donald Trump has raised tariffs on China to a whopping 145 per cent, forcing Beijing to hit back with its own retaliatory tariff of 125 per cent.
Who is Li Chenggang?
Li, 58, brings decades of experience in international negotiations through his work at China’s Ministry of Commerce. He played a major role in negotiating a trade deal with the US in 2020.
He also served as China’s ambassador to the World Trade Organisation in Geneva starting in 2021. He holds a law degree from Peking University and a master’s in law and economics from the University of Hamburg in Germany.
US-China trade tensions
Donald Trump believes it is up to China to come to the negotiating table on trade, the White House said Tuesday, after the US president accused Beijing of reneging on a major Boeing deal.
“The ball is in China’s court. China needs to make a deal with us. We don’t have to make a deal with them,” said a statement from Trump read out by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“There’s no difference between China and any other country except they are much larger,” she told a briefing.
China on Wednesday said its economy grew a forecast-beating 5.4 per cent in the first quarter as exporters rushed to get goods out of factory gates ahead of the US levies.
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More ShortsWith inputs from agencies