Iowa governor Terry Branstad has accepted US President-elect Donald Trump's offer to be the next American ambassador to China, Bloomberg reports.
The 70-year-old Republican politician first met Chinese President Xi Jinping in 1985, and analysts speculate he was chosen because of their friendship. (Trump could certainly use a friend after a certain phone call and some tweets).
The two met when Xi made his first trip to Iowa as part of a sister-state exchange more than 30 years ago. Xi was a young agricultural official working as director of the Feed Association of Shijiazhuang in Hebei at the time.
A photo from a local Iowa newspaper when Xi visited in 1985.
According to the South China Morning Post, Xi and Branstad "have used their mutual love of agriculture to bridge the gap between their respective countries on human rights, economic issues and other tensions."
Branstad is the longest-serving governor in American history. He's held the role twice — once from 1983 to 1999, and again from 2011 to present.
He'll succeed outgoing ambassador Max Baucus, who's held the position since 2013.
[Images via Daily Mail]
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