‘Touching story’ brings Chinese leader to Iowa

DES MOINES - Chinese General Consul Yang Guoqain and Gov. Terry Branstad talked trade and relationships built on fond memories during a joint Statehouse news conference Wednesday.

Yang's visit comes a week before the scheduled visit of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping to Muscatine and Des Moines. Xi, who is expected to become the next president of China, stayed in Muscatine and met Branstad in 1985 when Xi was a Hebei Province party official.

“I was a young governor then,” Branstad joked and told the story of how he met Xi again on a trade mission last year when Xi showed him a copy of the 1985 itinerary.

“The reason why Xi chose (Iowa) as his most important place to visit is because of the friendship,” Yang said. “It's a truly, truly a very touching story that such a high, senior-level leader remembers every moment.”

Branstad said the visit “will be an incredible opportunity to educate Iowans on how significant the relationship between China and Iowa is and how long it's been going on.”

The details of Xi's visit this time have not been fully disclosed. He is expected to land at the Quad-City International Airport in Moline on Feb. 15 and visit the Muscatine home of Roger and Sarah Lande.

Xi is expected to travel with a contingent of 160 to 200 people. After leaving Muscatine, he will fly to Des Moines for a state dinner and a series of events in the Des Moines area that may include an event at World Food Prize Headquarters.

He is expected to spend the night in Des Moines before heading to California.

Branstad said the visit can help strengthen the trading relationship between Iowa and China. Exports from Iowa to China have grown by 1,300 percent in the past decade, said Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who joined Branstad and Yang at the news conference, which was attended by a half-dozen reporters from Chinese news outlets in addition to Iowa reporters.

Reynolds said the market for agriculture and biotechnology products is strong in China, and there's a growing opportunity for other products, such as financial services, to serve China's growing middle class.

“We are just scratching the surface,” she said.

Yang agreed that there was opportunity for Iowa exports, but, he said, European exporters have a better trading policy toward China than does the United States.

“I believe the competitors to the U.S. in China is not the Chinese,” Yang said. “Europe is doing much better. It's the problem of the policy.”