The Big Picture: President Xi Jinping's global influence

World
Europe

Friendship in the heartland

Iowa is called "America's Heartland." It is here where corn grows tall and soybeans flourish, and also where Chinese President Xi Jinping has developed strong relationships through a foundation of trust.

The people of Iowa know a great deal about China’s president and people in China. President Xi made his first trip to Iowa leading an agricultural delegation back in 1985.

Today, looking out over the plush green field of soybeans, 25 percent of all the soybeans grown in the United States are sold in China.

CGTN Photo

Fond memories of an old friend

Grant Kimberley is a 6th-generation farmer in the small town of Maxwell, Iowa.

He took CGTN America to the top of his grain silo to get an expansive view of the 4,000 acres of the family farm.

Kimberley and his father are now celebrities of sorts, not just in Iowa but in China as well.

On the verge of becoming China’s President, Xi Jinping visited Iowa and the Kimberley family farm – proudly telling the local residents that to him, Iowa is “America.”

Kimberley says that Iowa has become a brand name in China, and he and his father have made dozens of visits to China to increase agricultural trade.

A healthy outgrowth of a relationship fostered by Xi so many years ago.

The bond between China and the US

There are some 300,000 Chinese students attending college in the US, including 2,600 at the University of Iowa.

CGTN Photo

Many of those students say, in part, they decided to leave China for the plains of the American Midwest because of President Xi’s close relationship with Iowa.

The students say that President Xi has, in their words, “restored a sense of pride among Chinese youth.”

They also say their American colleagues routinely ask them about life in China, a strong example of fostering people-to-people relationship.

University of Iowa senior Su Qingyang said, “I am kind of like the bond between China and the United States.”