Xi: China to invite 50,000 young Americans in 5 years for exchanges

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday that China is ready to invite 50,000 young Americans to China on exchange and study programs in the next five years to increase exchanges between the two peoples, especially between the youth.

Xi made the announcement at a welcome dinner in San Francisco. It is a coincidence that San Francisco was the first stop of Xi’s maiden trip to the United States decades ago. Over the years, he fostered friendships with Americans, especially young people who hold the future of China-U.S. relations. 

In 2015, Xi, with his wife Peng Liyuan, visited Lincoln High School in Tacoma of Washington State during his first state visit to the U.S. as Chinese president.

He once voiced the hope that more youth from China and the U.S. can get to know each other, and work hand in hand as a new generation of ambassadors of friendship to inject fresh impetus into the development of China-U.S. relations.

“President Xi is a strong believer in educational exchanges,” said Patrick Erwin, principal of Lincoln High School, who accompanied Xi on the 2015 school tour.

In the year 2021, Erwin wrote a letter to Xi, telling him about the exchanges between his school and China over the past years and how the educational partnership is important to his students.

“It is a life-changing experience, both in terms of the travel itself and the exposure to the culture, the history and the Chinese people,” Erwin said. “My students all want to go back to China and study in China.”