Wang Wentao (; born May 1964) is a Chinese politician who has been Minister of Commerce since December 2020. He formerly served as Communist Party Secretary of Jinan and Deputy Party Secretary of Shandong province.
Career
Wang was born in 1964 in
Nantong, Jiangsu province. He attended
Fudan University in Shanghai, graduating with a degree in philosophy. He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in December 1994. After graduation he worked as an instructor at career institute of the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology; he also served as the head of the Communist Youth League organization at the institute, as well as the managing the sales of photocopying machines. He was later transferred to work as mayor of the town of Wuku in the Songjiang District, then promoted to party chief of Liugang. Then he served as deputy governor of Songjiang District in Shanghai and head of urban planning; he was also in charge of industrial development, the technology park, and export growth.
In January 2005, Wang was then transferred to Kunming to become deputy party chief, then mayor. Then he was transferred back to Shanghai to serve as deputy party chief and later governor of Huangpu District. In April 2011 he was named a provincial Party Standing Committee member of Jiangxi and party chief of the provincial capital Nanchang.
In March 2015, Wang was named Party Secretary of Jinan and joined the Shandong Shengwei Changwei; he replaced Wang Min, who was dismissed for corruption. In April 2017, Wang was named deputy party chief of Shandong.
Minister of Commerce
Wang was appointed Minister of Commerce in December 2020. In October 2022, after the 20th CCP National Congress, Wang was appointed as a full member of the CCP Central Committee. Wang was previously an alternate of the 18th and the 19th Central Committees of the CCP.
In January 2024, Wang promoted the commerce ministry's commitment to the "Made in China" strategy while acknowledging the challenges of attracting foreign inventors. He also stated that the ministry would not shy away from "unreasonable sanctions and suppression".
In April 2024, during a roundtable discussion in Paris along with representatives from more than ten Chinese companies including BYD Company, Wang stated that the rise of Chinese vehicles was not because of Chinese government subsidies but "constant innovation" from carmakers. He also said that the allegations of "overcapacity" were "groundless" and "without merit".
China-US trade war
In early February 2025, the
United States placed a 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports to reduce fentanyl flow, blaming China for exporting precursor chemicals. Wang criticized the tariff, noting previous cooperation between the US and China on fentanyl control.
In March 2025, he vowed to "fight to the finish" declaring that China won't be intimidated by US tariffs.
That same month, the Commerce Ministry started an anti-circumvention investigation into US
fiber optic imports and announced to impose additional 15% tariffs on American farm products.
In June 2025, Wang urged the World Trade Organization (WTO) to enhance oversight on tariffs.
