People-to-people exchanges a key focus of Sino-US ties

Promoting people-to-people friendship has been a key focus for the Chinese Consulate General in New York.

More than 300 people attended the reception at the consulate on Thursday night to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

"Over the past 75 years, China's development has become more solid, with GDP up by over 200 times," Consul General Huang Ping said in the speech, comparing how life has changed, from being a low-income country but now gradually developing to a middle-to-high income country.

He also highlighted the country's efforts in eliminating poverty, improving the social security system and delivering initial prosperity to people who were struggling to meet their basic living needs.

"If we choose the right path of development, we will not be afraid of mountains and rivers," Huang said. "If we get along with each other in the right way, we will not be afraid of ups and downs."

He added, "China and the US have established diplomatic relations (for) 45 years and there is never a shortage of paths to cross, but the two countries managed to overcome them."

During his six-year tenure in New York, Huang has participated in more than 400 events across 10 states within his consulate district, continually promoting people-to-people relations between China and the US.

Huang shared moments watching a play in a New York theater, cheering for a March Madness basketball game in the Ohio stadium and experiencing the cutting-edge design of a Massachusetts startup. "The hopes of the China-US relationship lies in the people," Huang said.

Susan Elliott, CEO of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, and a former diplomat, said: "We have had very strong, what we call strategic US-China Dialogue for many years."

Lamont Repollet, president of Kean University, stressed the importance of China-US educational cooperation. The university is the only public university in the US that has a full campus, the Wenzhou-Kean University in Zhejiang province.

Stereotypes dispelled

"The beauty of bringing young people together to exchange ideas and thoughts. … It breaks down stereotypes," Repollet told China Daily.

The consulate also held the award ceremony for "Traveling China: share your Chinese hashtag" and granted the awardees round-trip tickets from New York to China for future travel.

"When you actually go to a place, you see it for yourself and you realize that the news makes it seem a lot crazier on both sides," Andrew Cap, a popular English teacher on social media platforms, told China Daily. He is one of the recipients of the award.

"I hope that they can actually see real Chinese people speak with them, eat their food, learn about their culture and actually get an accurate picture of what Chinese life is really like," said Patrick McClelland, who also received the award.