To inject youthful energy into long-term growth of China-U.S. relations

Recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping replied to a letter from Chinese and U.S. students participating in "A Shared Voyage: China-U.S. Youth Friendship Program."

In the letter, he announced that since the launch of the initiative of inviting 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study programs in a five-year span in November 2023, more than 50,000 young Americans have come to China for visits and exchanges, achieving the target two-and-a-half years ahead of schedule.

These young envoys, having crossed the Pacific Ocean to experience a real, multidimensional, and comprehensive China firsthand, have built bridges of friendship and narrowed distances through sincere interaction, laying a stronger public foundation and injecting fresh vitality into the long-term development of China-U.S. relations.

Friendship, which derives from close contact between the people, holds the key to sound state-to-state relations. In November 2023, Xi formally proposed the "50,000 in Five Years" initiative in San Francisco, aiming to bridge cognitive gaps, strengthen friendship between the peoples of the two countries, and build stronger public support for the sound development of China-U.S. relations.

Over the past more than two years, the seeds of exchange have quietly taken root and flourished. Young Americans from 50 states and Washington, D.C. have traveled across the Pacific, leaving footprints across all 31 provincial-level regions of the Chinese mainland as well as Hong Kong and Macao.

They have explored the profound heritage of Chinese civilization along the Great Wall, experienced the elegance and warmth of China's fine traditional culture in the water towns in east and south China, and witnessed the dynamism of China's scientific and technological innovation in bustling Chinese cities.

Diverse travel experiences, immersive cultural exchanges, and sustained interactions have enabled American youths to witness China's development firsthand and personally experience the country's openness and goodwill.

Achieving the target two-and-a-half years ahead of schedule fully proves that friendly exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States represent the shared aspiration of both peoples, and the irresistible trend of mutual goodwill and joint engagement between the two nations.

In the past, the foundation of China-U.S. relations was laid by the two peoples; the door of China-U.S. relations was opened by the two peoples; the stories of China-U.S. relations were written by the two peoples.

From "ping-pong diplomacy," which broke more than two decades of frozen relations, to the enduring legacy embodied in the Kuliang story, every major breakthrough in China-U.S. relations has depended on sincere exchanges between ordinary people.

It is the convergence of many streams of goodwill and friendship that has created a strong current surging across the vast Pacific Ocean; it is the reaching out to each other by the two peoples that has time and again brought China-U.S. relations from a low ebb back onto the right track.

Although bilateral relations have experienced ups and downs in recent years, the simple aspiration of both peoples to know and understand each other has never changed. The implementation of the "50,000 in Five Years" initiative has played a positive role in breaking down information barriers, strengthening public support, and promoting the stable, sound, and sustainable development of bilateral relations.

Young people are the future of nations, and they also represent the future of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.

The "50,000 in Five Years" initiative has built a bridge of friendship across the Pacific among some of the two countries' most energetic and open-minded young people, allowing language barriers to gradually fade and cultural differences to transform into curiosity and appreciation.

In the process, participants from both sides have grown together while deepening mutual understanding and forming friendships. Many Chinese and American youths have become long-term pen pals, while a number of primary and secondary schools from both sides have established sister-school partnerships for ongoing exchanges.

These genuine and heartwarming interactions, together with steadily growing emotional bonds, are converging into a powerful youthful force for China-U.S. friendship, continuously injecting new momentum into the long-term development of bilateral relations.

In the new era, people-to-people friendship between China and the United States is being revitalized through increasingly vibrant and diverse forms.

From "basketball diplomacy" and "pickleball diplomacy," which carry forward the spirit of ping-pong diplomacy, to the online popularity of images showcasing the everyday life and modern reality of China, young American internet users are voluntarily sharing what they see and experience, using authentic stories and images to present a vivid picture of contemporary China and make cross-Pacific cultural dialogue more engaging and warm.

Whether it is the popularity of "becoming Chinese" or the rise of "Chinamaxxing," these trends reflect people from both countries drawing closer and deepening mutual understanding.

Recent U.S. opinion polls indicate that public sentiment toward engagement with China is steadily improving, with support for engagement and cooperation increasingly becoming mainstream, while younger generations are emerging as a driving force for people-to-people friendship.

This fully demonstrates that the desire of the Chinese and American peoples to know and understand each another cannot be stopped and will ultimately converge into a powerful force supporting the stable, sound, and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations.

Ultimately, state-to-state relations boil down to interactions between people. The early fulfillment of the "50,000 in Five Years" initiative marks not an end, but a fresh starting point.

China is ready to work with the United States to keep the vitality of bilateral people-to-people friendship thriving for the future. It will encourage more young people to join the cause of China-U.S. friendship, act as goodwill envoys across the Pacific, and make new strides in deepening cultural and people-to-people exchanges and advancing bilateral ties.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)