2 cities join hands through links with Xi

The small Iowa city of Muscatine welcomed special guests from Zhengding county, Hebei province, on Monday.

The Chinese delegation of eight led by Mayor Yang Lizhong had a mission: sign a sister-city agreement with Muscatine.

"It is exciting, and in a lot of ways it is our contribution to world peace," said Muscatine Mayor DeWayne Hopkins.

"A relationship has to start with one person and that's what we are doing," he told China Daily before the signing ceremony at the Muscatine Art Center. "We are looking at this from a ground-floor level, and I want to have a relationship with Zhengding and Mayor Yang, and hope he feels the same."

Yang was on a reciprocal visit after Hopkins traveled to Zhengding in November.

"These people-to-people relationships, formed on the local level, will help build a stronger foundation for more prosperous relations between China and the US," Yang said.

With a population of just over 20,000, Muscatine has made headlines since Xi Jinping, who became China's president last month, visited the city in February 2012 as vice-president.

Twenty-eight years ago as a Party official in Hebei province, Xi visited Iowa with a delegation studying agricultural techniques. Xi also served as deputy secretary of the Party committee in Zhengding in the early 1980s.

According to Zhengding official Wang Chunhua, the sister cities will focus on education exchanges and agricultural cooperation.

Jenny Juehring, a 17-year-old from Muscatine, has just returned from a two-week exchange program in Zhengding. It was her first time in China.

"I had never met Chinese students before," she said. "In America we usually just think they are very dedicated to their studies, but when I went there I saw they are friendly people — a lot like me."

She plans to begin studying Chinese and hopes to go back to China one day.

Zhengding No 1 Senior High School has been partnered with Muscatine High School since November, and many teachers and students from the US visited last year.

"From talking with them, we found new direction in our teaching and learning," said Song Jie, the school's vice-president, adding that students had benefited from shared activities and communication.

"We need to shift the stress on students and their studies to explore their abilities in other areas."

The school hopes to send Chinese students to the US in the future, Song said.

Comprehensive ties

Wang said officials on the trip were joined by heads of three of the county's largest private companies from the pharmaceutical, tool manufacturing and food processing industries.

"The bond between our two cities offers us a direct channel to exchange information on business, thus motivating the economy," Wang said.

In addition to the economic cooperation presented by this new bond, the sister cities will witness more exchanges in the future.

Zhengding, a county in Shijiazhuang, has a population of 482,000.

Xi's visit to Muscatine last year was part of a weeklong official trip. In Iowa, he met old friends including Sarah Lande, now 74, who had hosted Xi in 1985.

Hopkins said Muscatine's efforts to enhance US-China exchanges were largely influenced by Xi's friendship with Muscatine residents.

"I feel extremely honored just being a part of that process," said Hopkins, who last year presented Xi a second gold key to express friendship from the city and its people.

The Muscatine Art Center has a painting by Chinese painter Chun Arthur Wang that depicts Xi holding the gold keys to the city from his 1985 and 2012 visits.

Mayor Yang said Zhengding and Muscatine are a perfect match, and his county can benefit from Muscatine's know-how in farming and other industries.

The Iowa city is home to some big names in US manufacturing, including food producer Heinz and furniture maker HNI Corp.

"It is our responsibility to do more to promote exchanges between the two countries," Yang said.

Contact the writers at yuweizhang@chinadailyusa.com and zhengjinran@chinadaily.com.cn

Pei Pei in Shijiazhuang contributed to this story.