The US state of Iowa and Iowa City were not well known among Chinese people until last February when then Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping, now the president, paid a high-profile return visit, following his first trip there in 1985 as Party chief of Zhengding county, Hebei province.

This week, Hebei is sending around 200 people to Iowa to participate in a series of celebrations from Monday through Wednesday to mark the 30th anniversary of their sister relationship. The events include a symposium on strategic cooperation, a contract-signing ceremony, a forum on sustainable agricultural development, a photo exhibition and other cultural activities.

Zhou Benshun, Party chief of Hebei province, described the anniversary as marking a new era of bilateral friendly cooperation. At a Sunday evening welcome banquet in Muscatine, he praised Iowa Governor Terry Branstad for successfully leading a delegation to Hebei in April to promote education, culture and trade. The re-elected Branstad was also Iowa governor during Xi's visit in 1985, when they first met.