Chinese President Xi Jinping recently replied to students from 10 US universities who wrote to him after attending youth exchange programs in China.

CGTN spoke to one of these students, Jazmine Morales Diego, who's enrolled at the University of California, Riverside. She said going to China helped her better understand the country, including its focus on advanced manufacturing and its fight against pollution. She supports having more exchange programs so that "greater connections could be built between American and Chinese students," because they allow young people to be more culturally open, learn from one another, join hands to tackle issues of common concern and "cut down on stigmas," as she puts it.