Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has been named the next US ambassador to China, the Trump transition team announced Wednesday.

Branstad received the job offer directly from President-elect Donald Trump during a meeting between the two on Tuesday in Trump Tower.

The longtime Iowa governor accepted.

Branstad has a relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping and the two have been friends since 1985, when Xi visited Iowa on a cultural exchange.

“Governor Branstad’s decades of experience in public service and long-time relationship with President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders make him the ideal choice to serve as America’s Ambassador to China,” President-elect Trump said in a statement.

“He successfully developed close trade ties with China while serving as chief executive of the Hawkeye State. That experience will serve him well as he represents America’s interests and further develops a mutually beneficial relationship with Chinese leadership,” Trump added.

Branstad has visited China four times in the last seven years, Bloomberg reported.

America’s top diplomatic official to China will be busy in a Trump administration. The president-elect is already at odds with Beijing after upsetting the Communist regime by taking a congratulatory phone call from the democratically-elected leader of Taiwan.

This week, Chinese newspapers ridiculed Trump, calling the president-elect a “diplomatic rookie.”

“After long discussions with my family, I am honored and humbled to accept President-elect Trump’s nomination to represent our great country as Ambassador to China,” Branstad said in a statement.

“I have known President Xi Jinping for many years and consider him an old friend. I look forward to building on our long friendship to cultivate and strengthen the relationship between our two countries and to benefit our economy,” he added.