The U.S.-China High Level Agricultural Dialogue took place last night at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates in Des Moines. Ag leaders from both countries were gathered to discuss the important relationship between their ag industries. One of those speakers was former Iowa governor and U.S. ambassador to China Terry Branstad. He started off his speech by talking about Iowa?s sister state agreement with the province of Hebei in China.
Branstad said this agreement led to a series of delegatory visits between the U.S. and China. The first trip was in 1985 when a small delegation came to Iowa from China. One of these delegates was Xi Jingping, who is now the President of China.
In 2011, Branstad was finally able to make his trip to China to visit Xi Jinping, who was vice president at the time. To his pleasant surprise, Branstad said Jinping still had his itinerary from his 1985 trip and called them ?old friends.?
All in all, Branstad said the friendship they built is very important when it comes to the relationship between the countries, and he hopes that they can build on that for future generations to enjoy.
Stay tuned to the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network for more coverage from the U.S.-China High Level Agricultural Dialogue over the course of next week.
