Commercial tensions between the two largest economies in the world have increased in the last two weeks.
Dila Irem Sancar | Anadolu | Getty images
China appointed Li Chenggang on Wednesday as Vice Minister of Commerce and as the main representative of international commercial negotiation, according to an official statement, replacing Wang Shouw.
The appointment makes Li, 58 years old, is a key member of the China Commercial Negotiation team, since Beijing deals with commercial disputes with the United States so far, has no sign of commercial conversations in the short term, since both parties have increased tense tensions.
“In the opinion of China’s main leadership, they may need more descale tensions,” said Alfredo Montufar-Helu, head of the center of China at the Conference Board, while it would be difficult to understand Beijing’s movement at this time of propagation.
“This is certainly a very abruptly and potentially given disruptive change with the speed with which commercial tensions have intensified,” he said.
By giving credit to Wang’s experience in the negotiation with the USA. From the first term of Trump, Montufar-Helu said that Li has the “correct history to assume this new role given her extensive experience in commercial problems.”
Li has worked for the China Department of Commerce since 2010 and served as a Chinese representative for the World Trade Organization and several other international organizations.
The Vice Primer Chinese Minister, He Lifeng, is the main negotiator on the China-United States trade, according to the official documents. Previously, the former Vice Prime Minister of China, Liu, had a similar role in which he facilitated commercial conversations with the last Trump administration and anyone signed the phase one agreement.
“Wang was a key support player last time due to his position,” said Kenneth Jarrett, main advisor to Albright Stonebridge Group. “The same will be true for Li if the conversations take off,” he added.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, is open to making a commercial agreement with China, but wants Beijing to make the first movement, the White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. “The ball is on China’s court: China needs to do a valley, we don’t have to deal with them,” he said.
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Since the inauguration of Trump in January, it has imposed a cumulative rate of 145% to all imports from China, including a duty of 20% allegedly related to the role of Beijing in the Fentanyl trade.
China has recovered with increases in the Teta tariff per eye of up to 125% in its last reprisals last Friday.
Such levels of duties would bother the trade of goods between the two largest economies in the world, analysts said.
Before the last Tarifa climbing, former Vice Commerce minister, Wang, had described the Chinese-United States relations as “mutually beneficial and won in nature” in several meetings with foreign executives from multinational companies.
Li was one of the Chinese officials who with several main entrepreneurs last month in a symposium that sought to address the concerns of private companies after President Xi Jinping in February expressed support for companies.
As part of a broader reorganization at the upper level of Beijing, China also took advantage of Chen Xiaodong to direct the country’s foreign aid agency and Wang Zhizhong as head of the National Immigration Administration.
– Evelyn Cheng from CNBC contributed to this story.
