beijing
\nChina on Wednesday unexpectedly appointed a new trade negotiator key in any talks to resolve the escalating tariff war with the United States, replacing veteran trade tsar Wang Shouwen with its envoy to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
\nLi Chenggang, 58, a former assistant commerce minister during the first administration of US President Donald Trump, takes over from Wang, 59, the human resources and social security ministry said in a statement.
\nIt was unclear if Wang, who assumed the No 2 role at the commerce ministry in 2022, had taken up a post elsewhere. His name was no longer on the ministry\u2019s leadership team, according to the ministry\u2019s website as of Wednesday.
\nThe ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the change, which was not explained in the human resources ministry\u2019s statement.
\nWang was regarded as a tough negotiator and had clashed with US officials in previous meetings, said a source in Beijing\u2019s foreign business community.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s a bulldog, very intense,\u201d said the source, declining to be named.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
beijing China on Wednesday unexpectedly appointed a new trade negotiator key in any talks to resolve the escalating tariff war with the United States, replacing veteran trade tsar Wang Shouwen with its envoy to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Li Chenggang, 58, a former assistant commerce minister during the first administration of US President Donald […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472982,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-472972","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n