A delegation of Chinese businesspeople stopped by Napa and American Canyon Tuesday, looking to boost tourism and investment in their corner of the world’s fastest-growing economy.

In American Canyon, the 18 delegates, who hailed from Yunnan, a province in southwestern China — home to minerals, tobacco and a nascent wine industry — were greeted with applause by members of the American Canyon Chamber of Commerce as they stepped off a van at the Napa Valley Visitors Center.

Flashes popped as the visitors exchanged gifts with their hosts — pins representing the city’s key for members of the Chinese delegation and a tie, CDs of folk music, a shawl and wallhanging cloths for American Canyon’s representatives.

“Welcome. Please enjoy your stay,” Mayor Leon Garcia told the visitors, who were scheduled to fly home Wednesday after a three-week journey to the United States with stops that included New York; Boston; Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.

“Very impressive,” said Meipin Zhu, a member of the delegation from the Yunnan province, summing up his visit to Napa County. Peter Lee, American Canyon’s wastewater systems manager, translated from Mandarin to English.

Nearby, You Mingsan, a division chief for the Economic Cooperation Office in Kunming, the province’s capital, spoke with Maryana Williams, a wine producer whose stepson, Christophe’, owns the Napa Valley Visitors Center.

Like Zhu, Mingsan said he enjoyed the small-town atmosphere here.

“In my opinion, California is better than New York,” Mingsan said in English. “New York is too crowded.”

The Chinese officials said they wanted to learn more about government and boost trade.

“We hope to encourage foreigners to invest in Yunnan,” Mingsan said, as Williams poured a glass of riesling.

“I hope I can drink California wine in Kunming,” he added, noting that he prefers California wines to French wines.

American Canyon Fire Chief Glen Weeks and Assistant Fire Chief Mark Nelson were among the city officials who stopped by.

Both smiled as the Chinese visitors took turns posing with the uniformed firefighters.

“It’s always fun when people are excited to see you,” said Weeks.

On Wednesday, Bettina Sichel, marketing director for the Napa Valley Vintners, an association of 300 wineries, wrote in an e-mail that China is the most swiftly emerging wine market in the world today. Napa Valley has sent a trade mission to China every other year since 2004, she continued, adding the next one is in 2008.

“There is a great amount of interest among our members in exporting to China. The cases of (Napa Valley) wine currently sold in China are still small, but the consensus is that the potential is enormous.”

Earlier in the day, the delegation met with members of the Napa Valley Economic Development Corporation, a countywide business group.

Bob Russell, membership director for the NVEDC, said the group discussed business exchanges between Napa and the province of 75 million people.

“I think they’ll come back,” he said.