Xi Jinping Urges China, US Youth to Advance Bilateral Cooperation

President Xi Jinping has voiced hope that young people in China and the United States will carry forward bilateral cooperation and help ensure the steady, long-term development of relations between the two countries, Xinhua reported on Monday.

Xi’s remarks came in a reply to a letter from students at 10 US universities who shared their thoughts and experiences after joining a youth exchange programme in China earlier this month. “Young people from China and the United States share the same planet Earth and jointly shoulder the mission of the times,” the report cited Xi as saying.

Xi expressed hope that the students would join young people in both countries in working to foster mutual understanding and affinity between the two peoples and to contribute to building a better world, the report said. He said he was delighted the students had enjoyed their journey in China.

The comments were issued ahead of Xi’s state visit to Washington to meet US counterpart Donald Trump between Wednesday and Friday.

The programme, titled Future Makers 2026 China-US Youth Tour for a Shared Asia-Pacific Future, ran from September 1 to 7, Xinhua reported. It was jointly organised by the Hong Kong-based Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation and the Beijing NGO Network for International Exchanges.

The tour hosted 170 young attendees from China and the United States, of whom about 100 came from US institutions including Harvard University, Columbia University, the University of Chicago and the University of Washington. Participants visited Jinan and Qufu in Shandong province and Beijing, touring the Temple of Confucius, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall.

According to the foundation, the itinerary also introduced China’s technology through visits to an autonomous driving demonstration area in Beijing and the Xiaomi Auto Factory. Chinese and American youth planted white-bark pines at Yanqi Lake to symbolise friendship between the younger generations.

Foundation director Daryl Ng Win-kong, who chairs Sino Group, called Xi’s reply a “tremendous source of encouragement,” saying it reflected the importance the president places on youth development and people-to-people ties. He said the foundation would continue to support international youth exchanges and use Hong Kong’s role as a “superconnector” to strengthen contacts between China and the wider world.

The exchange follows a similar reply Xi sent in May to students in a separate China-US youth friendship programme, in which he encouraged continued cultural exchange between the two countries.

Xinhua also reported that Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang met a youth delegation of nearly 1,200 members from Hong Kong and Macau at the Great Hall of the People on Monday morning, conveying Xi’s greetings as they visited Beijing to pay tribute to the national flag.

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