Feature: For Iowans, old friend Xi's visit heralds stronger U.S.-China ties

The 4,000-acre family farm in central Iowa where 64-year-old Rick Kimberley and his son grow soybeans and corn is thousands of miles away from China.

But the Kimberley family, along with many Iowa farmers, are benefiting from China's growing demand for American agricultural products. They are following closely Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States slated for Tuesday to Friday.

"It would be nice if he would, I mean if he has the time to come to Iowa again," said Rick, who runs the fifth-generation farm in Maxwell, Iowa, and received Xi at his farm in February 2012.

"I'm sure he is going to be in Washington D.C., but we'd like to invite him to Iowa. We'd love to have him," Rick told Xinhua. "I know Iowa has strong feelings for President Xi and for the country of China."

As a leading domestic producer for corn, soybeans and pork, the central U.S. state of Iowa is now enjoying a tailwind from China's growing middle class and booming market. Statistics from the U.S.-China Business Council show that Iowa's exports to China amounted to 2.9 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 391 percent from 2005.

For soybeans in Iowa, "the biggest export market is still China," said Grant Kimberley, Rick Kimberley's son and market development director at the Iowa Soybean Association. He expected China's demand for soybeans would remain strong this year despite recent economic slowdown.

Grant said the soybean association is also working with the Chinese government to help farmers grow more efficiently and safely by using biotechnology, and he believed "agriculture can actually help foster the positive foundation between the two countries."

While Xi is not expected to make a stop at Iowa this time, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad said he is "very proud" that his old friend, Xi Jinping, is coming back to the United States as president of China.

"We are very pleased that President Xi is the leader of China because he knows Iowa and he loves Iowa, and we are very proud to have him as a friend," Branstad said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"Even before Xi Jinping became the president, he was a strong advocator for trade and building the relations between our two countries," the governor said. "Under his leadership we hope that it will get even better."

For Sukup Manufacturing, a family-owned manufacturer of grain bins and dryers in Sheffield, Iowa, a stronger relationship with China makes good business sense.

"China is definitely a very large focus for us ... we could work together at agriculture," Steven Sukup, chief financial officer of Sukup Manufacturing, told Xinhua. "We'd like to be able to expand some of our products in exporting to China, and set up some grain storage."

For Muscatine, a quiet Iowa city of about 20,000 people located along the Mississippi River, China is more than just a growing market. It has developed a special relationship with China since 1985 when Xi, then a county official in China's northern Hebei province, led an agricultural delegation to visit the town.

"Because we just had one interpreter, we didn't get to say too much, but we all recognized his smile and his genuineness, and the respect for us, eagerness and (he is) curious about everything," Sarah Lande, former executive director of Iowa Sister States and one of the organizers for Xi's first trip to Muscatine, recalled her first contact with Xi.

"They had been so curious about the Mississippi River. You know, of course Xi said he read the stories of Mark Twain ... We've been told that Xi Jinping is a great reader," Lande said.

Twenty-seven years later, during a visit to the U.S. as Chinese vice president, Xi returned to Muscatine to reunite with his old American friends.

"We were all excited when he walked up to open the door ... everybody just couldn't wait to see him," recalled Lande, who hosted Xi for an hour, reminiscing and chatting at her house in 2012.

Lande said Xi's remarks before leaving the house touched their hearts.

"He was saying on the stairs, 'do you know I've just been in Washington D.C. and President Obama, Vice Present Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, why Iowa, why are you going to Iowa?' He had his hand gestured up there, looking at the old friends, and said, 'You're why'", Lande recalled.

Several months later, Lande and other old friends were hosted by Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan in Beijing. Lande recalled Xi kept emphasizing that in the next 10 years the U.S.-China relations would be really important and encouraged more and more exchanges at all levels between the two countries.

"He seems like a good man, really cares about his people, wants to build China up and cooperate," Lande told Xinhua. "I would love to greet him again."

For Lande, China is part of her life now and she will continue to promote understanding between the American and Chinese people.

"We are willing to develop friendly relations with China, to establish a really good-feeling relationship," Muscatine Mayor DeWayne Hopkins agreed.

Luca Berrone, a businessman in Urbandale, Iowa who helped arrange Xi's visit to Iowa in 1985, believes Xi's state visit at this important juncture provides opportunities to move forward the bilateral relationship.

"Given the experiences President Xi had travelled in Iowa and the United States, I'd hope that would mean for improving, better relationship" between the two countries, Berrone told Xinhua.

"I believe obviously dialogue is going to be fundamental in improving the relationship, making sure the common goals are set and achieved as well," he said.

"I think having a spirit of cooperation and collaboration is in the mutual benefits of both countries," Governor Branstad echoed. "We hope he has a very fruitful and successful visit to the United States." Endit