Today China is the largest trade partner of the Port of Tacoma. Industrial machinery, computers and electronics from China are imported through Tacoma while agricultural products and other machinery is sent back to the Asian nation.

Lincoln High was selected as a venue in Xi's visit in part because of the sister-cities agreement as well as an exchange agreement signed in 2008 between teachers at Lincoln High and their counterparts in Fuzhou.

When Xi invited 100 students from Lincoln High to visit China in 2016, the students at their sister school in Fuzhou, the Affiliated High School of Fuzhou Education, welcomed them to classes and made friends. PThe two cities had also worked on a school partnership between Stadium High School in Tacoma and the No 1 high school in Fuzhou. At the university level, the University of Puget Sound has historical ties to Hwa Nan Women's College in Fuzhou.

The city of Tacoma is also known for one of its most famous landmarks — a Chinese park with a pavilion called Fuzhou Ting. It was the gift of Fuzhou, which is also the ancestral home of many Chinese Americans who settled in the Pacific Northwest in the 19th century.

The construction, completed in 2011, is in support of the city's Chinese reconciliation efforts.

Beyond that, the two cities have created a port exchange program. With technical assistance from the Port of Tacoma, Fuzhou is building five deepwater port facilities.

"Fuzhou, the name of the Chinese city, always reminds us that across the world we have a sister, someone who is connected to us. We want to treat our friends like a family," said Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards.