The second China-U.S. People's Dialogue is now underway in Beijing with more than 100 participants from the two sides meeting in the nation's capital. The event aims to foster greater people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, despite mounting political tensions between Beijing and Washington. Guo Tianqi has the details.

The second China-U.S. People's Dialogue is taking place in Beijing. The event brings together Chinese and American people from all walks of life, including tourism, science and technology sectors, as well as sports and the arts.

YAO MING Vice President, All-China Youth Federation "Of course, I hope to see more and more sports exchanges. While playing sports, you must cooperate with teammates and compete with opponents. It is very suitable for young people from different countries and regions to exchange and understand their strengths and weaknesses."

JOHN OSBURG Chair of Anthropology, University of Rochester "For me, I mean partly because I'm an anthropologist, people to people exchange is basically my job. I want to understand China from the perspective of Chinese people; how they perceive it and then I want to try to help sort of transmit that perspective and translate it to American audience."

Political instability has brought a range of challenges to China-U.S. relations. One example – a U.S. Congressional anti-China advisory panel called for ending the country's Permanent Normal Trade Relations or PNTR with China, a status which has been in effect for more than two decades.

DAVID MOSER Associate Professor of Foreign Language, Beijing Capital Normal University "That's not a good step. I think that we can negotiate; we can change the relationship. Um we can even try to modify it in our own interest instead of the other purpose of interest, but I think you have to keep it going. It's already doing harm, anything in business involves companies, the stock market, trade, it not only just affects businesses but it affects ordinary people like you and me, right? So yeah, it's a very absurd decision."

ALISON FRIEDMAN Executive & Artistic Director, Carolina Performing Arts "Art is one of the most powerful and important ways to bridge gaps when governments are facing tensions, when economies are competing. Uh when the newspapers are telling very depressing stories, the arts are crucial to keep the ties between people together at a very basic level so that again we don't get lost in the tension, we don't get lost in the controversy. We continue to see the beauty and the humanity in each other."

GUO TIANQI Beijing "This event is jointly hosted by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and Tsinghua University. More than 100 participants from the countries have gathered here, with hopes of developing people-to-people ties despite political differences. GUO TIANQI, CGTN, Beijing."