According to a Bloomberg report, Donald Trump, the President-elect of the U.S. has named Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as his pick for the country's next ambassador to China. Branstad has nurtured a 30-year friendship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Then governor of Iowa, Branstad met Xi for the first time in 1985, when the latter visited the Iowa city of Muscatine as Party secretary of Zhengding County, Hebei province for a two-week exchange on agriculture and animal husbandry.

The two met again in China when Branstad visited the country in 2011. During that visit, they had a conversation that lasted nearly an hour. Five months later, Xi paid another visit to Iowa. After President Xi took the office, he met with his old American friend twice, in 2013 and 2015, sharing his memories of the past.

Branstad is proud of his friendship with the Chinese president. The governor loves to tell the story of his relationship with Xi, a fact known by anyone who stays in his company for more than five minutes. Iowa also shares a close bond with China, and the residents of the state are proud of their contributions to bilateral relations between the two countries. Branstad, who has served as Iowa's governor for more than 20 years, deserves much of the credit for this rapport.

In Trump's eyes, although Branstad has no formal experience in diplomatic relations, no one could compete with him in terms of trade. However, Branstad is not likely to keep quiet if Trump continues to take a hard line with China, like he did several days ago.