The Chinese people are ready to promote friendly exchanges with the American people, Chinese President Xi Jinping said recently.

In a reply letter to Sarah Lande, one of his old friends from the U.S. state of Iowa, Xi hailed the people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

The Chinese people and the American people are both great peoples, he wrote, adding that the friendship between the two countries is not only a valuable asset, but also an important basis for the development of their bilateral relations.

The Chinese people are willing to continue to work with the American people to strengthen friendly exchanges, promote mutually beneficial cooperation and jointly promote the well-being of the two peoples, Xi said.

Xi encouraged Lande and other friends from Iowa to keep sowing the seeds of friendship and make new contributions to the friendship between the two peoples.

Lande helped coordinate Xi's trip to the city of Muscatine, Iowa, in 1985 and received Xi, then Chinese vice president, when he paid a return visit to the state in 2012.

She recently wrote to the Chinese president and expressed her hope that the two countries can continue to deepen people-to-people exchanges and enhance understanding and mutual trust.

She also sent Xi a copy of her memoir "'Old Friends': The Xi Jinping-Iowa Story" with the letter.