Despite the tariff ceasefire, the United States and China, who had been raising trade barriers against each other, will hold another round of trade negotiations on the 9th (local time) in London, England. This comes about a month after they agreed to a ceasefire on tariffs on the 12th of last month in Geneva, Switzerland. On this day, the two countries are expected to discuss the resumption of China's rare earth exports and the easing of U.S. technology export controls on China.
Representing China at the negotiation table that day is He Lifeng, the Vice Premier of the State Council, who is visiting the UK from June 8 to 13. He led the agreement on behalf of China during the Geneva agreement while visiting Geneva.
According to major foreign media, he is a close confidant of Chinese President Xi Jinping and is known as a "troubleshooter" among overseas corporations. According to the Chinese government, He Lifeng is a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and also serves as the head of the General Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission. He is leading the economic policy of Xi Jinping's third term. Born in 1955, he began his public career in 1973 and joined the Communist Party in 1981. An economy expert who majored in finance and economics at Xiamen University in Fujian Province, he started his political career in Xiamen.
According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the first place he connected with President Xi and foreign investors was also Xiamen. In the mid-1980s, when he was a bureaucrat, Xiamen conducted various policy experiments to attract foreign corporate investments. During this time, He Lifeng built connections with the "political newcomer Xi Jinping," who was appointed as the new deputy mayor of Xiamen. Later, when Xi became a strong candidate for the next leadership as he assumed the role of Vice President of China in 2008, He Lifeng also followed him to Tianjin, near the capital, Beijing, where he led major projects aimed at revitalizing the economy.
He was appointed as Vice Premier of the State Council in March 2023. He acts as a mediator in meetings between Western politicians and corporate leaders on behalf of the Chinese government. WSJ evaluated his role as the "key designer focusing on how to respond to the West's sanctions led by the United States" and "the guardian protecting China's systems and economy from the West."
However, as the scrutiny of China's manufacturing sector by the West increased and trade tensions intensified over the past two years, leading to greater uncertainty in the Chinese economy, he has been meeting with the West in a more proactive manner. According to Reuters and South China Morning Post (SCMP), it is reported that He Lifeng has met with foreign investors and others more than 60 times over the past year. This is a significant increase compared to the 45 meetings in his first year after taking office. Prior to this, He Lifeng had also discussed economic and industrial cooperation with Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in April 2024.
He Lifeng is not considered an innovator but is regarded as highly competent in practical skills. According to interviews that Reuters conducted with 13 foreign investors and diplomats who met He Lifeng, he initially had a strong image of being a "stiff Communist Party official" who spoke awkward English and was reluctant to stray from prepared remarks. Having little experience abroad and spending most of his career in local Chinese governments, communication was not smooth, leading corporate leaders to say that it "felt like talking to artificial intelligence (AI)." He was particularly compared favorably to his predecessor, an economist from Harvard University.
However, according to Reuters, he has left a strong impression over time with his excellent problem-solving abilities. In particular, he received praise for presenting a predictable and confident demeanor to American business leaders amidst the uncertainty in U.S.-China relations. WSJ introduced He Lifeng as "a person whom multinational corporate executives line up to meet."
Foreign press anticipates that his close relationship with President Xi, as someone who can conveys Xi's intentions best, will contribute to leading this trade negotiation to a positive outcome. The Financial Times (FT) quoted Neil Thomas, a researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI), stating, "The close relationship between Vice Premier He Lifeng and President Xi will have a positive effect on the negotiations" and that "this relationship plays a crucial role in enabling President Xi to lead this trade negotiation to success and reliably demonstrate the desired direction of U.S.-China relations."