China's ambassador to the US has said that a program encouraging more young people in the United States to study in China is prospering.

"It is inspiring to witness the tree of goodwill between our two peoples continuing to flourish, and it is even more exciting to see our young people coming together for a better future," said Ambassador Xie Feng at an event at the Chinese embassy in Washington on Friday, which was attended by more than 300 people, including US students and teachers who recently returned from an exchange program in China.

In a speech titled "Pool small drops into a mighty river and inject constant impetus into China-US relations", Xie said that to implement President Xi Jinping's "50,000 in Five Years" initiative, China has set up the Young Envoys Scholarship, or YES.

Over the past year, Xi has invited US youths to visit China, and students from around the US have actively participated. Some 14,000 young people from the US have been to China under the initiative, proposed in San Francisco last year.

"The initiative has provided an effective platform that brings our youths closer, opened up an important window for better understanding China, and ushered in a new chapter of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples," Xie said.

The exchanges have faced headwinds in recent years, but are still yielding good results, he said.

"We need to continue removing disruptions, stay undaunted by the chilling effect, oppose any backpedaling, and move forward hand in hand, so as to build more bridges for people-to-people exchanges and inject constant impetus into China-US relations."

Xie encouraged the youths to foster a sustainable bilateral relationship and become pioneers in developing the right perception of each other, advancing dialogue and cooperation and becoming trailblazers in making the world a better place.

"So in that spirit, let's together say YES to exchanges and cooperation between China and the US, say YES to our peoples' friendship, and say YES to a brighter future for the youths in both China and the US," Xie said.

The event also included panel discussions — "My Stories of China-US Youth People-to-People Exchanges", "The '50,000 in Five Years' Initiative" and "Future Outlook of China-US People-to-People Exchange".

Participants shared their experiences studying Mandarin, how they got involved in the exchanges, their visits to Chinese cities and stories of their friendships.

During the event, Wanxiang America Group announced a new program for the exchanges: funding 1,000 young US people to travel to China to study in the next five years.

Brody Bluemel, chairman and an associate professor at the Department of Languages and Literatures at Delaware State University, has traveled to China regularly over the past 15 years.

He told China Daily that he took a group of students there in May, and they were impressed with Chinese culture and the friendliness of the people.

"We are hoping that with the partnerships we have with our colleagues in China at several different universities, we'll just be able to increase the good things that we're doing there, regardless of what the political climate is," Bluemel said.

"The more that we can increase our youth exchange programs, the more of our young and upcoming generation will have that same perspective and see people from another country, people from China, just as they see themselves."

Better understanding

Ilaria Luna, 17, a student of Sidwell Friends School in Washington, shared her experiences in the YES program and in studying the Chinese language.

"I understood that language goes deeper than just the words, and it is that human connection that we get, and it is through language that we can learn how to connect and interact with others and better understand different experiences," she said.

"This is crucial to improving our best relationships in China. There is no other way to go about it. You have to appreciate, understand each other as people first, and then problem-solving comes second," she added.

Xie said 2024 would be "a very fruitful year" and that the "50,000 in Five Years" initiative has been "overfulfilled".

"I think it's indispensable to have the personal commitment of President Xi to have the active participation of the young people from both sides and also from continuous and very important support from the friends of both sides of the Pacific," Xie said.

The young people who took part in the YES program presented the ambassador with a special gift — in Chinese calligraphy and English — that said, "50,000 in Five Years Initiative YES!" The students also performed a Chinese song, On the Field of Hope.

"So beautiful," Xie said of the presentation, adding the future and hope for China-US ties "lies in our two peoples and relies on our youth".