Iowa town thrilled by friendly link to new leader

The National People's Congress session in Beijing, where China's new leadership was announced on Thursday, attracted global attention. In the United States, Sarah Lande, a 74-year-old resident of Muscatine, Iowa, was particularly interested in the events at the Great Hall of the People.

She had good reason to be. To Lande, it was more than just a significant event taking place in the world's second-largest economy. She said she was "very excited" for her old friend - Xi Jinping, China's new president.

"I am excited as an old friend of his, and also excited that the people of China have such a good leader. I'm excited for the US, too, because together with our president, he will find ways for our countries to work together," Lande said.

The nearly three-decade friendship was formed in 1985 when Xi visited Lande's city as a young Party official in Hebei province, traveling with a delegation that was learning about agricultural technology in Iowa.

Lande remembers this young Chinese official, but never imagined their friendship would last for nearly 30 years. Xi made a stop in Muscatine, a city of about 23,000 by the Mississippi River, last February during his weeklong state visit.

Lande recalls her friend as a "warm, caring, listening person" who sat together with a group of 17 old friends at Lande's house where he stayed in 1985. She recalls Xi saying "friendship is a foundation of a good relationship".

That impressed this Muscatine native.

"In the next 10 years, it is very important for our countries to work together, and you have to get to know each other in order to do that," Lande said.

Xi's friendship with Lande is now well known in the small town. But Lande said it is more than something making headlines here and there, it is about being "a good example of how to further that relationship between the two countries".

Lande has promoted a closer tie between the small Iowa town and China.

The Muscatine Art Center is presenting an exhibition titled The Other Side of the World by Chinese artist Chun Arthur Wang, who created a painting named Muscatine's Golden Key featuring Xi receiving two golden keys from the town during his visits.

"Most Chinese had never heard of 'Muscatine' until the Chinese and global press reported on Xi Jinping's return visit to this Iowa town in 2012," said Wang, an art professor with Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio.

"People were touched by the story that Mr Xi did not forget the local family that hosted him for three days during his visit in 1985. The profound friendship between Mr Xi and ordinary American people impressed many Chinese people, including me," Wang said.

In Maxwell, a town about 64 km northeast of Iowa's capital Des Moines, the Kimberley family, who received Xi at their farm in February last year, are also excited about the news that he has been elected president.

Grant Kimberley, who met Xi both on the farm visit and during a trade mission to China, said Xi sees opportunities to expand Sino-US economic ties and benefit both countries.

"I think he understands the importance of agriculture trade with Iowa and the US to ensure a safe and stable supply of food for the Chinese people and that it can serve as the foundation for a positive relationship between the two countries," said Kimberley, who together with his parents welcomed Xi to their family farm.

The lasting friendship with Xi also makes Lande feel responsible to promote more exchanges - beyond trade and agriculture - on a local level between the top two world economies.