China replaces top international trade negotiator as talks with Washington stall

China on Wednesday appointed Li Chenggang as vice minister of commerce and a top representative for international trade negotiation, according to an official statement, replacing Wang Shouwen.

The appointment makes Li, 58, a key member of China’s trade negotiation team as Beijing deals with trade disputes with the U.S. So far, there have not been any sign of near-term trade talks as both sides have ratcheted up tariff tensions.

“In the view of China’s top leadership, they may need someone else to deescalate tensions,” said Alfredo Montufar-Helu, head of the China Center at The Conference Board, while it would be difficult to understand Beijing’s move at this precise moment.

“This is certainly a very abrupt and potentially disruptive change given how quickly trade tensions have escalated,” he said.

While giving credit to Wang’s experience in negotiating with the U.S. since Trump’s first presidential term, Montufar-Helu said that Li has the “right track record to take over this new role given his extensive experience on trade issues within the Ministry of Commerce.”

Li has worked for China’s commerce department since 2010 and served as China’s representative to the World Trade Organization and several other international organizations.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng is the lead negotiator on China-U.S. trade, according to official documents. Previously, China’s former vice premier Liu He had held a similar role where he facilitated the trade talks with Trump’s last administration and eventually signed the Phase-One deal.

“Wang was a key supporting player last time around because of his position,” said Kenneth Jarrett, senior advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group. “Presumably the same will be true of Li if and when talks get off the ground,” he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump is open to making a trade deal with China but wants Beijing to make the first move, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. “The ball is in China’s court: China needs to make a dal with us, we don’t have to make a deal with them,” she said.

Since Trump’s inauguration in January, he has imposed a cumulative 145% tariffs on all imports from China, including a 20% duty allegedly related to Beijing’s role in fentanyl trade.

China has struck back with tit-for-tat tariff increases of up to 125% in its latest retaliation last Friday.

Such levels of duties would grind the trade in goods between the world’s two biggest economies to a halt, analysts said.

Prior to the latest tariff escalation, the former vice commerce minister Wang had described China-U.S. relations as “mutually beneficial and win-win in nature” in several meetings with foreign executives from multinational firms.

Li was among the Chinese officials who met with several top entrepreneurs last month in a symposium that sought to address the concerns of private companies after President Xi Jinping in February expressed his support for businesses.

As part of a wider reshuffle in Beijing’s top echelon, China also tapped Chen Xiaodong to lead the country’s foreign aids agency and Wang Zhizhong as head of the National Immigration Administration.

— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng contributed to this story.