# Liu He

### Context

Liu He is a Chinese economist and former vice premier who served as one of Beijing's most prominent economic-policy negotiators during the U.S.-China trade conflict. His clearest externally documented role was as China's principal signatory to the Phase One trade agreement with the United States on 15 January 2020. U.S. Trade Representative materials identify the agreement as covering intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, trade expansion and an enforcement mechanism. Liu's relevance is therefore as a senior negotiator inside China's party-state economic system, not as the sole author of Chinese trade policy. Source: [USTR, 15 January 2020](https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2020/january/economic-and-trade-agreement-between-government-united-states-and-government-peoples-republic-china).

### Record

Liu negotiated through a period of escalating U.S. tariffs and Chinese retaliation. On 15 January 2020 he signed the Phase One agreement on behalf of China alongside U.S. [President Donald Trump](/people/mig-donald-trump). USTR later created a bilateral evaluation and dispute-resolution office to monitor implementation, and U.S. officials held implementation calls with Liu. The agreement reduced uncertainty in some areas but did not end the structural U.S.-China trade conflict; major tariffs remained. Liu's role as vice premier ended in 2023, after which He Lifeng became the senior Chinese economic official most visible in later trade negotiations. Sources: [USTR Phase One page](https://ustr.gov/phase-one), [USTR, 14 February 2020](https://www.ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2020/february/ustr-announces-formation-bilateral-evaluation-and-dispute-resolution-office-pursuant-us-china-phase), and [USTR country background](https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/china-mongolia-taiwan).

## Dated facts

- 2023: Liu He tells Davos China is open again after zero-COVID. https://factrail.ai/facts/liu-he-davos-speech-2023-01-17. Sources: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202301/17/WS63c6987ea31057c47ebaa2c4.html, https://english.www.gov.cn/statecouncil/liuhe/202301/18/content_WS63c7322dc6d0a757729e5bab.html.
- 2020: US and China sign Phase One trade deal. https://factrail.ai/facts/us-and-china-sign-phase-one-trade-deal-2020.

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/people/liu-he