Why China likes Iowa Governor Terry Branstad

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, who is a longstanding friend of China, as an ambassador to the Asian country. Trump had recently rankled China after taking a call from Taiwan president and calling China a currency manipulator. 

"It means that the Trump team understands that it is important to have an ambassador who has access to Xi Jinping," Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said of the pick.

Branstad has visited China at least six times and Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Iowa twice. His relationship with the country is based on trade of agricultural products. Iowa exports pork and soybeans to China.  

While announcing Branstad's appointment, Trump cited his longtime relationship with Jinping and other Chinese diplomats. 

"I'm honored and humbled to accept this responsibility as Amb to China; Iowa will never be far from my heart," tweeted Branstad on Wednesday. 

China also embraced the decision and called him "an old friend of the Chinese people." "We would welcome him playing a bigger role in promoting Sino-American relations," Lu Kang, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

"He's tenacious, and trust me, with the Chinese, you need to be tenacious," US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, said of Branstad. Branstad ​"cares deeply about business and agriculture," said Vilsack. "He's a promoter, and that's what ambassadors do."

The appointment of Branstad as US ambassador to China would also mean more trade relations between his homestate and the country. He could also be instrumental in brokering trade ties between the two biggest economies in the world. 

After coming down hard on China in his presidential campaign and even after winning the elections, it appears that Trump is now taking a softer approach to China by selecting Branstad as the ambassador. The selection may signal Trump's future relationship with China in terms of trade.