Student exchange event seeks to spur China-US youth friendships

More than 200 students from China and the United States gathered at Peking University on Wednesday for a youth exchange event aimed at advancing a new initiative to invite 100,000 young Americans to China over the next five years.

The event, themed "Embark on a New Journey: Together We Meet, Together We Embrace the Future", was co-hosted by the China Education Association for International Exchange and Peking University.

Tian Xuejun, president of the association, said more than 35,000 young people in the US had traveled to China for exchanges and study through the Young Envoys Scholarship program organized by the association over the past two and a half years.

From classroom learning and cultural experiences to city visits and social practice, these firsthand experiences and sincere friendships have provided vivid examples of mutual understanding between the Chinese and US peoples, Tian said.

"As long as we come closer and understand each other, we can gather a powerful force that crosses cultures and borders," he said.

The association will continue to serve as a bridge between the two countries, expand exchange channels, enrich program content and improve the quality of its initiatives to help more young people understand each other, Tian said.

He encouraged young people to remain open and inclusive, replace preconceptions with sincere dialogue, and promote understanding through their personal experiences. The understanding and trust built today, he said, would provide a solid foundation for future cooperation.

He Guangcai, chair of the Peking University Council, said the expansion of the initiative from inviting 50,000 US young people to China over five years to inviting 100,000 represents not merely a doubling of numbers, but also a continuation and deepening of mutual trust between China and the US.

Peking University's ties with the US span more than a century, He said, adding that 249 US students are currently studying at the university.

He offered three messages to young people: approach exchanges with curiosity rather than prejudice, seek sincere mutual understanding and look confidently toward the future. Challenges such as artificial intelligence and climate change, he noted, cannot be addressed by any single country alone.

Zhang Lipei, China president of the US-China Business Council, said her career had been devoted to promoting exchanges and cooperation between China and the rest of the world.

Only by becoming part of each other's lives can people develop a deeper understanding of one another, she said, adding that face-to-face exchanges are often more genuine and profound than learning about a country through books or news reports.

Zhang cautioned that a short exchange cannot provide a complete understanding of a country and that mutual understanding does not require agreement on every issue.

She encouraged the students to explore more, make more friends and listen to different perspectives. Trust does not exist because differences disappear, she said, but because people remain willing to listen to and respect one another despite those differences.

For the US students attending the event, the opportunity offered a chance to experience China firsthand and build friendships with their Chinese peers.

Milca Velazquez, 20, a second-year engineering student from Washington state, said it was her first visit to an Asian country and that she was excited to see China's renowned landmarks and universities.

She said she enjoyed China's food, atmosphere and community, particularly milk tea, which she found refreshing.

Paired with a Chinese student buddy named Alex, Velazquez said she hoped to stay in touch after the exchange. She noted that Chinese and US students had much in common, including the challenges of managing academic workloads, social lives and work.

Exchange activities are important because they help young people recognize that "we're all the same" and share common goals, such as earning a degree, she said.

Elias Shearman, 19, an architecture major at the University of Washington, said this was his second visit to China and that he felt no culture shock this time.

He said he enjoyed interacting with Chinese students, with whom he shared laughs and got along well, and hoped to continue communicating with them on WeChat.

A friendship he formed during his previous visit had continued to this day, he said. He also pointed to shared interests in music, television shows and anime as further evidence of the similarities between Chinese and US students.