File photo taken in 1985 shows Xi Jinping, then secretary of the Zhengding County Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), poses for photos as he visits San Francisco in the United States. (Xinhua Photo)
He was then a young and promising junior official, leading a five-person agricultural delegation to Muscatine, Iowa.
It is believed to be Xi's first trip outside China and perhaps his first and only experience of staying with an American family.
During the stay, he visited farms, attended a local birthday party and picnicked on a boat with his hosts on the Mississippi River.
During the 1990s, Xi made another two trips to a host of American cities to study their successful experience in city planning.
