Suranjana Tewari
Asia Business Reporter
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Li Chenggang is a former world trade organization and UN representative
China has unexpectedly appointed a new commercial envoy because officials have said that the practice of “tariff obstacles and commercial intimidation” has a serious impact on world economic order.
Li Chegggang, former deputy minister for trade and OMC ambassador, succeeds the Vice-Trade Minister of Veteran Vice-Commerce Wang Shouwen.
The change arises while Beijing refuses to retreat in a growing trade war with Washington launched by the heavy prices of American President Donald Trump on Chinese products.
On Wednesday, Beijing announced that Beijing announced that its GDP increased 5.4% between January and March, compared to the same period a year earlier – a figure that exceeded expectations.
Li, 58, was previously an assistant United Nations permanent representative in Geneva and has held several key jobs at the Ministry of Commerce.
Addressing Reuters, an expert said that the job change was “very steep and potentially disruptive” given the current trade tensions – adding that Wang also had negotiation experience with us since the first Trump administration.
“It may be that the opinion of the first Chinese leadership, given the way the tensions continued to degenerate, they need someone else to break the dead end … and finally start to negotiate,” said Alfredo Montufar-Helu, senior advisor to the Chinese Center for Conference Board.
However, another analyst who spoke to Reuters suggests that this decision could simply be a “routine promotion” which comes to a particular period.
The United States should “stop whining”
Speaking on Wednesday at a press conference by Sheng Laiyun, deputy commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), warned that the American samples would exert pressure on the trade and the external economy of China, but added that the Chinese economy was resilient and should improve in the long term.
“We firmly oppose the American practice of pricing barriers and commercial intimidation,” said Sheng.
“He violates the economic laws and the principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO), has a serious impact on world economic order and leads to the resumption of the world economy.”
In an editorial of the China Daily press state this week, the point of sale described the behavior of the United States as “capricious and destructive”, adding that it should “stop complaining about being a victim in world trade”.
“The United States is not being torn off by anyone … Rather … (IT) has taken a free tour in the globalization train,” continued the editorial.
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Retail sales increased in March while policies to stimulate the economy took place
Beijing has also announced its GDP figures that have exceeded expectations – most of the analysts expecting Beijing to have a growth of 5.1%.
The growth of the second world economy has been highlighted by solid retail sales and promising factory production.
However, this data covered a period before the American prices on Chinese goods went from 10% to 145%.
Trump had lifted last week last week on China tasks at 145%, Beijing responding by increasing the samples from 125%American products.
Thus, part of the expansion could be due to factories that rush to beat Trump’s prices – a concept called “front load”.
Analysts say that an increase in Chinese exports in March will be strongly reversed in the coming months, prices take full effect.
The slowdown in Chinese goods also leads to growth. Real estate investment dropped by almost 10% in the first three months of 2025 compared to the same period last year.
The new prices of houses have also been unchanged from the previous month – a sign that there are still too many empty houses and not enough people who buy them.
Officials said there was enough room for stimulation measures, and many tools in others can use the economy and deploy more support measures.
But it will be particularly important for China to increase domestic demand and expenses this year while Washington prices hit the crucial export sector in Beijing.
