Trump appoints China critic Peter Navarro to trade post

US President-elect Donald Trump named Peter Navarro, an economist who has urged a hard line on trade with China, to head a newly formed White House National Trade Council, the transition team said on Wednesday.

Navarro will lead the new White House National Trade Council and serve as director of trade and industrial policy.

Trump's team praised Navarro, an academic and one-time investment advisor, in a statement as a "visionary" economist who would "develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth, and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores."

He has authored a number of popular books and made a film describing China's threat to the U.S. economy as well as Beijing's desire to become the dominant economic and military power in Asia. His books include The Coming China Wars and Death by China, in which he is deeply critical of Chinese policy.

During the election, the President-elect made trade issues a core campaign issue, criticising some deals made with countries like China and Mexico.

Trump has already angered China by speaking to the Taiwanese president by phone, in violation of the US's decades-long "one China" policy.

He has also openly criticised China in outbursts on Twitter, recently accusing it of devaluing its currency to impede US competition, among other claims.

The presidential transition team said the Navarro's appointment "demonstrates the president-elect's determination to make American manufacturing great again".