Beijing Welcomes Appointment of Xi Jinping's Friend as US Ambassador to China

The Chinese Foreign Ministry welcomes the fact that US President-elect Donald Trump appointed Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, who has repeatedly called Chinese leader Xi Jinping his long-time friend, to become the US ambassador to China, the ministry's spokesperson Lu Kang said Thursday.

BEIJING (Sputnik) — Xi struck a friendship with Branstad during the first visit to Iowa in 1985, back when he was a low-ranking Chinese official, and the US governor helped arrange the second visit in 2012.

"Mr. Branstad is an old friend of the Chinese people, and we welcome his greater contribution to the development of China-US relations. The US ambassador to China serves as an important bridge linking the governments of the US and China. We are willing to work with whomever that takes this position to strive for the continued, sound and steady development of bilateral ties," Lu said at a briefing.

In 2012, Branstad referred to Xi as "very outgoing and very personable" and called the president's personal remarks at the state dinner in Des Moines "very sincere and very genuine."

According to the US-China Business Council, in 2015 China was Iowa's second biggest export market after Canada. The US state is mainly exporting crops, machinery, beverages, tobacco, chemicals and electronics as well as services including travel, royalties and equipment maintenance.

Iowa exported $1.4 billion worth of crops to China in 2015, while the overall China exports profit totaled $2.3 billion.