China’s surprisingly quick agreement with the U.S. to wind back punitive tariff rates put a spotlight on a Chinese negotiating team that features decades worth of technical trade experience alongside a top aide of President Xi Jinping.
While Vice Premier He Lifeng, a longtime associate of China’s leader, has been described by some observers as lacking the international experience of his predecessor, Harvard Kennedy School-trained Liu He, he brought with him to Geneva a team well prepared to take on U.S. counterparts.
The crew engaging with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was on public display for the first time Sunday, with Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang and Vice Finance Minister Liao Min flanking 70-year-old He, in a large wood-paneled press hall at China’s World Trade Organization mission in Geneva.
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