Chinese president Xi Jinping makes stop in Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Chinese President Xi Jinping is getting a quick view of America’s Last Frontier.
Xi stopped in Alaska for a refueling stop following his meeting with President Trump ended earlier Friday in Florida.
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker welcomed Xi during a ceremony on the tarmac at the Anchorage airport. They then set off on a short sightseeing tour of Alaska’s largest city.
Xi requested a meeting with Walker during his visit to Anchorage, which the governor’s office said was announced last month, CBS affiliate KTVA reports. China’s president was accompanied by “more than a dozen of his Ministers and Directors,” according to a statement from Walker’s office.
Later, they plan a business meeting and dinner at a downtown Anchorage hotel before Xi returns to the airport for the 4,000-mile trip to Beijing.
China is Alaska’s leading trade partner, buying more than $1 billion in Alaska products in 2016. Alaska’s leading export is various species of fish. It’s a two-way street, with Alaska’s imports from China only lagging behind trade with neighboring Canada.