China appoints new trade envoy Li Chenggang amid escalating tariff war with US

China said Wednesday that it had appointed a new trade envoy, as the world's second-largest economy pushes back against US President Donald Trump's swingeing tariffs on imports that sent global markets tumbling.

Li Chenggang has assumed the role of representative for international trade negotiations and vice minister of commerce, Beijing's human resources ministry said in a statement on its website.

Also read: ‘Ball is in China's court': Donald Trump calls on Beijing to make tariff deal with US

Li, 58, previously served as Beijing's ambassador to the World Trade Organization and deputy permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, according to an official biography.

He boasts decades of experience in various trade ministry roles and holds law degrees from China's Peking University and Germany's University of Hamburg.

He replaces Wang Shouwen, the ministry statement said.

Wang took part in talks that led to a 2020 trade deal between China and the United States.

Beijing and Washington have been locked in a high-stakes game of brinkmanship since Trump launched a global tariff assault that has particularly targeted Chinese imports.

Also read: China, Hong Kong stocks drop as trade war anxiety outweighs GDP data

Tit-for-tat retaliation has pushed US levies imposed on China to 145 percent and Beijing's toll on American goods to 125 percent.

China said Wednesday that its economy grew by 5.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, beating expectations even as officials warned that US tariffs were exerting "certain pressures".