Xi Jinping, vice president of China,

will be visiting the state of Iowa later this week.

Xi, who at 58 is the presumed heir

to General Secretary and President Hu Jintao, will be touring Iowa

and meeting with Gov. Terry Branstad in discussions focused on

agriculture and business.

Delegates from the Hebei province, a

northern area of China, arrived in Des Moines on Sunday. They will

be touring Kemin and Pioneer on Monday, visiting Valley West High

School in West Des Moines and Drake University.

On Tuesday they will be meeting with

Branstad as well as with Secretary of Agriculture Bill

Northey.

Xi is scheduled to arrive in Iowa on

Wednesday and visit Muscatine, followed by a state dinner at the

State Capitol.

Xi will then travel to local farms

on Thursday and attend the USDA’s U.S.-China Agricultural

Symposium. It is currently scheduled that he will leave Iowa on

Thursday as well.

Xi previously visited Iowa in 1985

as a Hebei province official, a year after Branstad took a trip to

China.

The Hebei province of China is one

of Iowa’s Sister States. It was signed into a sister state, in an

effort to improve United States and China relations, in 1983 by

Branstad after the initial relationship was began by former Gov.

Robert Ray.

There is the possibility of

protesters arriving from Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The

protesters would be made up of Tibetans and students. The protests

would be in concerns of Tibet wishing to become a sovereign state

from the People’s Republic of China.

The visit could continue to aid in

relations between the United States and China.

Continue to watch for coverage of

Xi’s visit throughout the week.