For China's Xi Jinping, reunion in Iowa

DES MOINES -- Vice President Xi Jinping of China is spending a good deal of his U.S. trip in a state better known for hosting American presidential candidates than major heads of state. So why is this rural place playing such a big role in his historic U.S. tour?

The answer lies in the way Xi likes to do business, through personal relationships, and in Iowa's rich agricultural industry, which is closely tied to China's.

"He's very outgoing, very personable," said Gov. Terry Branstad, who met Xi in 1985, when a Chinese delegation visited Iowa to study farming practices and again last year, when Branstad led a trade mission to China.

In a busy diplomatic schedule taking him from Washington to California, Xi, expected to become China's top leader next year, insisted on returning yesterday to Muscatine for a reunion with people he met 27 years ago. He was to visit a farm and to attend a state dinner in Des Moines hosted by Branstad and other officials. -- AP