China chose a new main international trade representative on Wednesday as tariff problems continue with the U.S.

The government said that Li Chenggang will replace Wang Shouwen. Wang Shouwen was involved in the trade talks for the agreement between China and the U.S. in 2020.

The two largest economies in the world have been adding more taxes to each other's products. This started after the U.S. put higher taxes on goods from many countries. China now has to pay 145% tax on things it sells to the U.S., but most other countries were allowed to wait 90 days before paying these taxes.

China's economy grew by 5.4% in the first three months of the year, helped by strong exports. But experts think this growth will slow down soon because the US is putting new taxes on goods from China.

China's economy grew by 5% in 2024, largely because of strong exports, and the government still aims for about 5% growth this year.

Beijing has reacted to the U.S. by adding a 125% tax on American products, while also stating it plans to keep its markets open for business and investment.

Sheng Laiyun, a spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, said that the tariffs will cause problems for China's economy in the short term, but they will not stop its growth in the long run.

It wasn't clear why China was changing the people they were negotiating with. This change happened when Chinese officials said their country had different ways to respond to what the U.S. was doing. They said they could use their own large market of 1.4 billion buyers more, and depend more on Europe and countries in the global south. But because people in China are not buying much, it will be hard to replace American buyers.

China also put more limits on sending out rare earth minerals. These minerals are used in advanced technology, building airplanes, and military equipment.

Before his new job, Li worked for about 4 and a half years as China's ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO is the group that controls world trade, and China has asked them for help in their argument with the U.S. about taxes on goods.

He was also the second most important person for the Chinese team at the United Nations in Geneva and other international groups in Switzerland.

He also worked as a deputy minister in the Ministry of Commerce and was the head of the department for treaties and laws.

Li studied law at Peking University in China and got a master's degree in the economics of law from the University of Hamburg.