South China Morning Post
· collected 2026-09-23 · by Advertising partner
President Xi encourages China-US youth ties after exchange
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Xi → encourage → exchange
In the run-up to his US visit, President Xi replied to American students who attended a cultural exchange, encouraging deeper mutual understanding and friendship.
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who → reply → understanding
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content → produce → partner
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Nearly 100 students from 10 US universities who travelled through China under Future Makers 2026 jointly wrote to President Xi Jinping after the programme, sharing what they had seen and experienced during the trip.
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they → travel → trip
In his reply to the students, Xi encouraged young people from both countries to promote friendship and co-operation and deepen mutual understanding between the two peoples.
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Xi → encourage → peoples
People-to-people exchanges can create space for that understanding by allowing participants to transcend impressions formed from afar, ask questions directly and discover common ground through everyday interaction.
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participants → create → interaction
Over time, such encounters can help strengthen trust and create more channels for dialogue between the two societies.
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encounters → help → societies
That role for people-to-people contact has received renewed attention at the highest level.
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role → receive → level
During their meeting in Beijing in May, Xi and US President Donald Trump agreed that the two countries should expand exchanges and co-operation in areas including tourism and people-to-people ties.
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countries → agree → people
For 170 young people from China and the US, that principle became personal during a week travelling through Shandong and Beijing.
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principle → become → Shandong
Some arrived knowing China mainly through books, television, university courses or impressions formed thousands of miles away.
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Some → arrive → miles
Sometimes, seeing really is believing.
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seeing → see → ?
Future Makers 2026 brought 100 students from 10 US universities together with 70 young people from Beijing and Shandong.
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Makers → bring → Beijing
hosted by the Beijing NGO Network for International Exchanges and the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Sino Group, the programme combined cultural and technology visits with direct exchanges between students from both countries.
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programme → host → countries
The journey began in Jinan, where participants attended the Asia-Pacific Civil Society Conference during China’s 2026 APEC host year.
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participants → begin → year
They then travelled to Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius, visiting Nishan Sacred Land and the Temple and Mansion of Confucius, trying Chinese calligraphy and discussing “harmony in diversity” with students from Qufu Normal University.
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They → travel → University
Beijing offered another encounter with China’s past at the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, before the itinerary turned towards a very modern China.
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itinerary → offer → China
Students watched humanoid robots in action at Beijing E-Town Robot World, visited the Beijing High-Level Autonomous Driving Demonstration Area and toured Xiaomi’s EV factory.
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Students → watch → factory
Within days, they had gone from Confucian thought to AI, and from imperial architecture to an EV production line.
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they → go → line
That juxtaposition of ancient traditions and modern China left participants with vivid memories.
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juxtaposition → leave → memories
Asyifa Isvari, a Harvard Kennedy School student, said travelling through China offered perspectives that were different from discussing the country as an abstract subject in the classroom.
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that → say → classroom
Even though we come from different countries, it has been amazing to see those differences and still build such strong connections.
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it → come → connections
Grace, Central Michigan University
From countries to people
The destinations provided the introduction.
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destinations → provide → introduction
The conversations gave the journey its deeper purpose.
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conversations → give → purpose
At Qufu Normal University and Tsinghua University, dialogue sessions covered cultural identity, innovation, sustainability, youth leadership and Asia Pacific co-operation.
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sessions → cover → identity
Outside formal sessions, students had meals together, discussed university life and swapped favourite films, music and jokes.
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students → have → films
University of Washington students discovered that their Chinese peers followed basketball, played some of the same video games and watched some of the same films.
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peers → discover → films
Daryl Ng, Director of the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation and Chairman of Sino Group, joined participants during their visit to the Temple of Heaven and over lunch, providing opportunities for more informal exchanges.
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Ng → join → exchanges
Xi’s reply was a source of encouragement for the organisers and participants, said Ng, who also thanked the Beijing NGO Network for International Exchanges for its long-standing work in promoting international exchanges and providing opportunities for young people from different backgrounds to learn from one another.
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people → say → one
He also welcomed the students’ efforts to share their experiences after returning home, helping others gain a better understanding of China.
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others → welcome → China
The Foundation, he said, would continue supporting international youth exchanges and dialogue and make use of Hong Kong’s role as a “super-connector” to encourage further exchanges between China and the rest of the world.
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he → say → world
A UC Davis student recalled meeting Chinese students who began the week as strangers and became genuine friends.
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who → recall → strangers
They spent time together, discovered common interests and formed relationships she intended to maintain after returning home.
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she → spend → relationships
Yanqi Lake is where the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting was held in 2014, the previous time China hosted APEC.
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China → hold → APEC
Twelve years later, the students returned during China’s 2026 APEC host year, this time with spades in their hands.
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students → return → hands
The activity also introduced ecological conservation and green development into a week that had taken students through China’s history, culture and technology.
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that → introduce → history
The metaphor was not lost on the participants.
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metaphor → lose → participants
One American University student spoke of planting trees while also planting the seeds of friendship.
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student → speak → friendship
Another said the friendships established in China could continue growing long after the journey ended.
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journey → say → China
The Aporia
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