The Senate has voted to confirm Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to serve as U.S. ambassador to China.

The vote Monday night was 82-13.

Branstad says he intends to use his decades-long relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng) to advance U.S. and international interests. The two met in 1985 when Xi, then a provincial official, led an agricultural trade delegation to Iowa.

The 70-year-old Branstad is in his sixth nonconsecutive term as Iowa’s governor. With more than 22 years at the helm of state government, he is the country’s longest-serving governor.

As Branstad gets ready to leave Iowa, he’s highlighted the state’s low unemployment rate and renewable energy investments in wind farms and ethanol.

But critics point to legislation he approved this year that weakened public unions, restricted minimum hourly wage increases and added a voter identification requirement at the polls. Branstad in recent years also privatized Iowa’s Medicaid health care program for the poor and disabled without legislative approval.

Once Branstad resigns as governor, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds will replace him.