China names ‘highly capable, effective technocrat’ as WTO ambassador as Beijing awaits Biden’s moves on trade
- Former assistant commerce minister Li Chenggang has been appointed as China’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO)
- The Biden administration said last week that it is committed to engaging with all members of the WTO on reforming the global trade body
China has appointed a former assistant commerce minister, described as a “highly capable and effective technocrat”, as the country’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) as Beijing prepares for a different approach from the United States to the global trade body.
Law graduate Li Chenggang has also been appointed as deputy permanent representative to the United Nations office in Geneva, as well other international organisations in Switzerland, the official Xinhua New Agency reported on Thursday.
The former director of the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Treaty and Law replaces Zhang Xiangchen, who left the role in late 2020 after representing China at the WTO for over three years. Zhang is now a vice-minister at the Ministry of Commerce.
The Department of Treaty and Law is responsible for drafting and advising on laws and other regulatory documents, while also handling international negotiations related to intellectual property and investment agreements.
He will be able to strategically use WTO rules and litigation to defend and advance China’s interests
“Given his long stint at the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Commerce, he will be able to strategically use WTO rules and litigation to defend and advance China’s interests,” said Henry Gao, an associate professor of law at Singapore Management University, who is a long time researcher of international trade issues, adding that Li is a “highly capable, effective technocrat”.
Li’s appointment comes as Washington, under the new Biden administration, said last week that it is committed to engaging with all members of the WTO on reforming the body, and that it is considering a candidate to lead the organisation, in stark contrast to the stance of former president Donald Trump, whose actions paralysed the WTO.
Trump, a strong advocate of “America First” unilateral action, previously described the WTO as “horrible” and dismissed the Geneva-based trade body as being biased towards China.
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The WTO Appellate Body has effectively been defunct since December when two of the last three judges finished their terms. The body normally has seven judges, but at least three are needed to hear a dispute.
Reform of the WTO is one of the key issues on the agenda for the next director general.
[The US approach] will include joint proposals on issues such as subsidies and state-owned firms, and joint cases such as the rare earth dispute
How the Biden administration helps to resolve the continuing stalemate will be closely watched as a signal of its trade policy intentions, with Gao suggesting that the US is likely to increase its efforts to work together with its allies including the European Union and Japan rather than take a unilateral approach against China.
The US, European Union – despite agreeing to a new investment treaty with China – and Japan have been pushing for tighter rules around industrial subsidies, which would potentially affect trade with China.
“[The US approach] will include joint proposals on issues such as subsidies and state-owned firms, and joint cases such as the rare earth dispute, which were brought by Katherine Tai when she was working for the Office of the United States Trade Representative,” Gao added.
After receiving a law degree from Peking University, China’s new WTO representative Li was named the director of the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Treaty and Law in 2010.
He also served as China’s lead negotiator with the US on a bilateral investment treaty during the Obama administration, though talks never led to a deal being agreed.
In 2013, Li was named as vice-mayor of Qingdao in Shandong province, while also serving as a member of the local Chinese Communist Party committee.
Li has been an advocate of China taking a proactive role to increase its influence within the global trade body through the WTO’s dispute settlement process.
In a book published in 2011 on China’s experience with the WTO, he wrote that “through proactively pushing through the WTO’s dispute settlement process, China has stepped up its influence with the members of the WTO, defending the important interests of the country, [and] contributing to the rules and development of the WTO”.
