Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China-U.S. educational exchanges and cooperation, a project for the future of bilateral relations, help promote mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, especially between the youths of the two countries.
In a recent reply letter to Lamont Repollet, president of Kean University in the United States, Xi encouraged universities in China and the U.S. to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, and contribute to China-U.S. friendship.
Xi recalled that, in 2006, he witnessed the signing ceremony of China-U.S. cooperation in establishing Wenzhou-Kean University.
Thanks to efforts from both sides, Wenzhou-Kean University has achieved remarkable results and become a landmark project in China-U.S. educational cooperation, which is very gratifying, he said.
He pointed out that China-U.S. ties bear on the well-being of the two peoples as well as the future of humanity.
Chinese and U.S. students pose for a group photo in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, April 20, 2024. /CFP
Xi applauded Repollet's pledge to deepen cooperation with Wenzhou-Kean University and encourage U.S. students to go to China for exchange and study.
He also called on universities in China and the U.S. to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, and cultivate young envoys who know both countries well, thereby building more bridges to promote China-U.S. friendship.
Xi welcomed Repollet and other members of the U.S. education community to pay more visits to China, and asked Repollet to convey his greetings to Dawood Farahi, former president of Kean University.
In May 2006, under the care and facilitation of Xi, then secretary of the Communist Party of China Zhejiang Provincial Committee, Wenzhou University and Kean University formally signed an agreement to establish Wenzhou-Kean University.
In 2014, with the approval of China's Ministry of Education, Wenzhou-Kean University was officially established. Currently, it has about 4,500 students across undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs, and over 3,300 have earned their undergraduate degrees over the past eight years.
Repollet recently sent a letter to Xi, expounding on the situation and the achievements of cooperative education, and voicing readiness to actively respond to Xi's initiative, help more American teenagers go to China for exchanges and study, and promote communication between the younger generation of China and the United States.