He Xian’s Sister Act

The trade war between China and the U.S. led to a lot of uncertainty in 2018. This was especially true for He Xian, who guides foreign companies as they establish or expand operations in America. But a lunch meeting with his former co-workers at Lansing Economic Area Partnership led to a hopeful development between Michigan and China. 

“A big milk powder processor from Ireland called Glanbia was investing in Lansing,” Xian recalls. “So they asked if I knew any Chinese dairy processors who might be interested in the same thing.” 

Xian reached out to the Dairy Association of China, which invited him and two other economic development representatives to visit for a meeting. “We did a tour, and within that tour we visited the city of Hohhot, the dairy capital of China,” Xian says. The capital city of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is home to Yili and Mengniu, the country’s two largest dairy producers. 

“Michigan has a lot of quality milk to be processed, surplus milk. And if it works out, it will probably reduce the trade deficit, and therefore ease the trade war tension between the U.S. and China,” Xian remembers thinking. “So everybody was pretty excited about the project.”

As part of the deal, Hohhot officials suggested a sister city relationship—“as something ancillary to the investment project that will only make things easier,” Xian says. Momentum continued as a Hohhot delegation visited in fall 2019, and the Michiganders went back that December. “But things shut down immediately after,” Xian remembers. “COVID hit, and everything changed.”

The project paused, but the connection continued. “When our friends in Inner Mongolia heard that we were short on face masks, they donated 10,000 N95 masks to be distributed to health care facilities,” Xian says. “I think Lansing took that to heart.”

Lansing and Hohhot officially became sister cities on July 11, 2024, and economic/educational exchange discussions have resumed.

“It started with business investment, but the real reason why the sister city deal got formalized is because of the help—the warmness and friendship through difficult times,” Xian says. “It wasn’t about business anymore. It was about the human aspect between two nations.”