On October 20, 2025, China's trade representative in the WTO was replaced. Li Yongqi replaced Li Chenggang in order to better negotiate with the United States.
In fact, this change of people is more of a two-way reduction of burden, so that Li Zhengzhou, Li Qingxian are all specifically responsible for their work, a focus on China-U.S. negotiations, a focus on WTO negotiations, a focus on the spirit, but because the U.S. threat has become more and more serious in recent days, frequently threatening China at press conferences.
But China does not respond, change one person, also equals to change one way, this is not a simple "change of generals", but a clear signal, China does not intend to listen to the pace of the United States, but to set the rules, under this, Trump's "negotiation dream", I am afraid to be cold.
This is not a personal arrangement, it is a strategic adjustment.
Xi Jinping's entry into office, just at a very sensitive time point, after Trump's re-election, wanted to pull the negotiations with China back to "the rhythm he is familiar": on the one hand, pressure, while shouting, fighting to force China to make concessions with a tough gesture, raise taxes, restrict scientific and technological cooperation, and fight public opinion war, the same is not the case.
In exchange for Li Chang, it is a very clear move: we do not refuse to talk, but do not accept your way of pressuring, frightening, screaming, if you really want to talk, you have to follow the rules, bypass the direct conflict with the United States, and take the WTO as a buffer line.
In other words, China changed generals not to "deal with" Trump, but to reset the negotiating table and let the rules really work.
Many people are familiar with Trump's negotiation methods. He likes to make things big, filling his words first, then putting out threats, and then waiting for the other party to compromise. When he was last president, he relied on this method to "negotiate" with many countries and achieve results.
But China’s response was very quiet, no noise, no pace, only a person who understood the rules, understood negotiations and understood international law in a key position.
Li Chang’s background, which determined that she was not the kind of person to communicate based on emotions and temperament, she was accustomed to stable, and also clear how to speak in the multilateral framework, her arrival, is in telling the outside world: China will not be taken in the rhythm, nor will it be dragged into a negotiation of “set a good situation” under unfair conditions.
Want to talk? Yes, but only under rules that everyone recognizes, not you who have the final say.
From confrontation to game, China changed its way.
In the past few years, China and the United States in the economy and trade, nobody let anyone, nobody hurt, both sides came back and pulled the saw, nobody really yielded.
But now, China's response mindset has changed, not to say not to return, but to be more clever and more accurate, with which you hit me and I hit you, rather than directly back into the rules system, put the problem to the surface, so that the whole world can see clearly who is keeping the rules, who is playing.
This is what Li Yongqi does. She is a practical person. When she comes up, she wants to speak with rules. In the future, in the face of various unilateral actions of the United States, China is more likely to use the WTO mechanism to deal with it, rather than simply "If you sanction me, I will sanction it back."
This method is not noisy, but more robust, it does not rely on hard-touching, but on making the other party unable to stand on the rules, so that the actions of the United States "I said it" lose their legitimacy internationally.
In other words, it’s upgrading from “beyond power” to “beyond brain”, you play, I don’t follow, but let the referee directly see if there are any problems with your cards.
China is not only a participant, it is also starting to set rules.
The current world trade rules are no longer what they were decades ago. Digital trade, artificial intelligence, and green subsidies are new things that can't be solved in the previous rules at all, and the United States is not stupid now. It wants to simply set its own rules in these new fields, engage in "small circles" and exclude China.
But this time, China doesn't intend to wait for others to set the rules before adapting.
Li Chang'an's entry into office also meant that China not only kept the bottom line, but also played a leading role on some key issues, she came up, not only to freeze the current front, but also to stand out and say: "Let's talk about how to set new rules of the game."
This is not only for China itself, but also to speak out on behalf of more developing countries, because many countries are actually dissatisfied with the new rules and methods of "Western countries have the final say", but they suffer from the lack of ability or platform to express it. Li Yongqi is to organize these voices and find a breakthrough in the WTO.
Trump's script, China is not playing
After Trump took office, he has always wanted to bring Sino-US relations back to the old road of "US-led". He believes in "the strong make rules" and always feels that as long as he shouts loudly, the other party will compromise.
But China’s move is clear: you can scream, we can listen, but it doesn’t mean we’ll follow you, China doesn’t want to confront, but it won’t accept unfair “negotiations.”
With this exchange, China is showing an attitude: we welcome cooperation, but to go on an equal basis, you want to talk, first look at the rules of the WTO, then look at our willingness to "cooperate" under the premise set by you.
Trump wanted to continue to use the "extreme pressure" to open the door for negotiations between China and the United States, and China this time gave a moderate but firm response: this door, you have to change the keys, otherwise we will not open.
Changing generals is just an appearance, the underlying logic is the key point
Many people only see that China has changed its representatives, but in fact, what is more important is to change its thinking, from passive response, from bilateral game, to multilateral framework; From just holding oneself to driving more countries to speak out together.
Now, China has begun to deal with the challenge in a more patient and tactical way, not afraid of the United States, but realizing that confrontation alone cannot solve the problem, and has to use more systematic and stable methods to get the leadership back a little bit.
This is not a concession or an avoidance, but a more powerful self-confidence. A personnel adjustment hides a change of thinking behind it. China speaks with actions, without the noise of counterattack, without slogans, but with a professional candidate, redefines the starting point of the China-US economic and trade dialogue.
Trump wants to continue the "pressure-concession-deal" routine, but China no longer plans to play this drama. Now it's you who talk and we listen; if you want to talk, come to the WTO; if you want to make rules, then we have something to say.
This is a more mature and organized external attitude. How will China and the United States talk in the future? Whether the talk will be successful or not, it depends on who is more disciplined and who is more widely accepted. China's "change of generals" is actually quietly drawing a new bottom line for this negotiation.
Trump’s dream, too, should be awakened, this is not 2017 anymore, the world is not the way he imagined, this “change of people” move, although small, it is not only an adjustment of China’s representation in the WTO, but a clear expression: the future dialogue is no longer passive, but initiative.
China does not have to struggle hard, but to let negotiations go back to a truly fair and reasonable track, and from now on, it is no longer the era of "who cries who counts", but "who understands the rules better, who wins respect".