CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Gov. Matt Mead has met with Taiwanese officials in Cheyenne and says he looks forward to building greater trade and cooperation with the island nation that has a powerful hunger for Wyoming coal.

Mead welcomed officials to the Wyoming State Capitol on Thursday including Andy Chin, the director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Seattle. The governor visited Taiwan last year.

Mead called Thursday's visit a great opportunity for Wyoming to build on its relationship with Taiwan. He says he hopes the state can increase tourism as well as trade.

Chin says Taiwan sees coal imports as critical for its national energy. Wyoming has run into some opposition from states in the Northwest to its plan to export coal to Asian markets through deep-water ports there.

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