Li Chenggang

Li began his career in 1989 at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, focusing on trade law and anti-dumping investigations. He later joined the Ministry of Commerce, where he held various roles in fair trade and legal affairs.^[2]

From 2004 to 2010, he served as deputy director of the Fair Trade Bureau for Imports and Exports and then as Deputy Director-General of the Treaty and Law Department. Between 2010 and 2017, he was Director-General of the Treaty and Law Department, with a one-year secondment as Vice Mayor of Qingdao from 2013 to 2014. From 2017 to 2021, he served as Assistant Minister of Commerce.^[2]

On 4 February 2021 Li began serving as China's Permanent Representative and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the World Trade Organization,^[3][4] as well as Deputy Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva.^[2] On 16 April 2025, as part of China's response to tariffs imposed on it by the second presidency of Donald Trump, the State Council of China appointed Li as the China International Trade Representative (Full Ministerial Rank) and as Vice Minister Commerce of China, replacing Wang Shouwen.^[5][6][7] On 20 October 2025, it was announced that Li was removed from his WTO post.^[8] The news came after United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly called Chenggang "disrespectful," "unhinged" and a "rogue negotiator" at a press conference, characterizations which were disputed by the Chinese Commerce Ministry.^[9][10] Li nevertheless continued to hold the title of International Trade Representative, meeting Bessent again in subsequent negotiations.^[11]

• Li Chenggang (2011). WTO Rules of the Game: China's Participation in the WTO Dispute Settlement Years of Legal Practice (1st ed.). Commercial Press. ISBN 978-7100086912.
• Li Chenggang Zhang Yuqing (2001). WTO and Safeguards Disputes (1st ed.). Shanghai: People's Publishing House. ISBN 7208038910.