US envoy pick goal to boost trade

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad thinks the US Midwest will attract more Chinese investment and hopes his state can again export beef to China.

Branstad, US President Donald Trump’s pick as ambassador to China, also said he is “looking forward” to visiting China.

“I think in the near future there are a lot of opportunities (between China and the United States), and there is more and more interest in the economy ,” Brans tad said on Tuesday in his office in Des Moines in a meeting with a Chinese investment delegation.

Branstad, 70, is serving his sixth four-year term as Iowa governor, making him the longest-serving governor in US history.

President Xi Jinping has called Branstad an “old friend”. The two first met in Iowa in 1985 when Xi visited the US for the first time. Branstad was in his first term as governor, and he hosted Xi when he returned to Iowa as China’ s vice-president in 2012.

Branstad has led several trade missions to China, a key trade partner for Iowa, a major producer of soybeans, corn and pork.

In September, Beijing said it would lift a ban on US beef imports in effect since 2003 after mad cow disease was found, but negotiations for access to the market have not been concluded.

Branstad’s nomination awaits confirmation in Congress. Trump said Brans tad’ s decades of experience in public service and longtime relationship with Xi and other Chinese leaders made him the ideal choice.

“I have known President Xi Jinping for many years and consider him an old friend. I look forward to building on our long friendship to cultivate and strengthen the relationship between our two countries and to benefit our economy ,” Branstad said in accepting Trump’s nomination.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang called Branstad “an old friend of the Chinese people, and we welcome his greater contribution to the development of China-US relations”.

Cheng Li, director of the John L. Thornton China Center of the Brookings Institution, said in December that the rapid choice of Branstad reflects China’s importance. “Trump wants to lead China-US relations according to his own thinking,” Li said. “It’s a clear sign for Trump to establish good interaction with Xi, so it’s very positive in this regard. He not only pays attention to China, but also Xi himself,” Li said.

I think in the near future there are a lot of opportunities.” Terry Branstad, Iowa governor and nominee for US ambassador to China