The US Senate on Monday approved Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as the new US Ambassador to China.

Following the 82-13 vote, the 70-year-old politician released a statement on the website of Iowa government, expressing his wish to bring the two countries closer.

"I look forward to working with both my friend President Donald Trump and my old friend President Xi Jinping for the mutual benefit of both of our countries and the rest of the world," he said.

Branstad and President Xi first met in 1985 when the Chinese leader, then an agriculture official in a county in Hebei Province, visited Iowa during a sister-state exchange.

“Branstad is an old friend of China and we welcome him to play a bigger role in China-US exchanges,” a spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in December last year, when Branstad was nominated by US President Donald Trump for the position.

During his confirmation hearing earlier this month, Brandstad told lawmakers he will address the Chinese government on difficult topics, including the DPRK issue and trade disputes, noting that he would work to "positively influence" the US-China relationship.

Branstad's 22-year-long tenure as Iowa's governor will soon come to end as he will move to Beijing to hold the key diplomatic post. He served as the governor of Iowa between 1983 and 1999, and again since 2011, making him the country's longest-serving state governor.