MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Sino-American and trade expert nominated US ambassador in Beijing

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke’s father ran a grocery store in the state of Washington

President Barack Obama will nominate Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who this year criticized China for not opening its markets, as next US ambassador to Beijing, two administration officials said.

Locke would be the first Chinese American to serve as Washington's envoy to China and he would be the Obama administration's second appointment of a high-profile politician to the increasingly important and tricky post.

Locke will replace Jon Huntsman, who has set himself publicly against the ruling Chinese Communist Party's efforts to stamp out dissent three times in three weeks.

He steps down on April 30 and is considering a run for president in which he'd join a field of Republicans vying to challenge Obama in the 2012 election.

Locke, whose appointment must be confirmed by the US Senate has served as Commerce Secretary and was previously governor of Washington State, which has close economic ties with China thanks to big corporate residents such as Boeing and Microsoft.

“He has served as a state governor, he is a seasoned politician, he is familiar with the players here in China,” said Sun Zhe, the director of the Centre for US-China Relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

“So an American ambassador's duties toward human rights and Taiwan won't be a difficult transition for him to make.”

Locke's grandfather emigrated from China to Washington State, and his father, who was also born in China, ran a grocery store in the United States. Locke made many trips to China as governor of Washington and has remained active on that front as Commerce secretary.

Locke said US companies have a variety of concerns about China's trade practices but “the fundamental problem often boils down to the distance between the promises of China's government and its actions.”