Xi's bridge-building across the Pacific

BEIJING, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) — “Friendship, which derives from close contact between the people, holds the key to sound state-to-state relations,” Chinese President Xi Jinping has said. For him, the foundation of China-U.S. relations was laid by the two peoples.

Upon the official announcement of Xi’s U.S. visit on Monday, his recent reply to American university students was made public. In his letter, Xi encouraged them to foster greater mutual understanding and affinity between people of the two countries, and to promote the steady and sustained development of bilateral relations.

When China-U.S. relations were at a low ebb, Xi cast his eyes toward the future — young people. The youth, he believes, carry the future and hope of this relationship.

During his 2023 trip to San Francisco for the APEC leaders’ meeting, Xi announced an initiative to invite 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study programs over the next five years. By May this year, that goal had been reached two and a half years ahead of schedule.

Many participants have written to Xi, thanking him for the opportunity to see China for themselves and forge friendships with their Chinese peers. Xi, in turn, has encouraged young people from both countries to become “envoys of friendship” bridging the Pacific.

A 2026 Reagan Institute Summer Survey found that younger Americans were significantly less likely to view China as a major threat to the United States.

Chinese and American students pose for a photo at Shijiazhuang Zoo in Shijiazhuang, north China’s Hebei Province, April 21, 2024. (Photo by Liu Zunshuan/Xinhua)

That emphasis on people-to-people bonds extends beyond the younger generation. For decades, Xi has stayed in touch with his old friends in Iowa, whom he first met during his maiden trip to the United States in 1985, and corresponded with veterans of World War II’s Flying Tigers, recalling the bonds forged between the two peoples during that time.

“We should build more bridges and pave more roads for people-to-people interactions,” Xi once said. “We must not erect barriers or create a chilling effect.”

Ahead of Xi’s U.S. visit, another story of friendship across the Pacific went viral online.

In 1999, American teacher Ronald Sakolsky donated 5,000 U.S. dollars to support Chinese woman Yin Yuzhen’s tree-planting efforts to combat desertification in north China’s Inner Mongolia. With the funds, Yin went on to cultivate a forest of more than 50,000 trees.

When Sakolsky and Yin reunited in China in August, he was asked what message he wanted to take home to the United States. His answer was: “Bridge.”