Iowa governor looks forward to meeting his old guest again

DES MOINES, Iowa - When young Iowa governor Terry Branstad signed an agreement to establish a relationship with China's Hebei province in 1983, he planted seeds of friendship that are still yielding fruitful results.

The state's close relationship with Hebei in the past three decades has not only accelerated Iowa's export growth to China, but also raised the profile of the American heartland as its old friend, Vice-President Xi Jinping, revisits the state on Wednesday.

In 1985, Branstad met with Xi, then an official in Hebei, in his state capitol office in Des Moines. The now 65-year-old governor, who is still in charge after he returned to the position in 2001, will host the Chinese leader again.