President Xi Jinping's letter presented to American students

Chinese Consul General in Chicago Zhao Jian (R front) hands Jennifer Fridley, principal of Susan Clark Junior High of Muscatine Community School District, a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping to the students of Muscatine High School at a reception marking the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations in Chicago, the United States, Feb. 27, 2024. [Xinhua/Xu Jing]

CHICAGO -- Students from Muscatine High School in Muscatine, U.S. state of Iowa, received a special gift  -- a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

At a reception here on Tuesday marking the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-U.S. relations, Chinese Consul General Zhao Jian handed the letter to Jennifer Fridley, principal of Susan Clark Junior High of Muscatine Community School District, in the presence of hundreds from all walks of life in Chicago.

In her speech, Fridley said that the school is honored to be among the first students and educators participating in the 50,000-student exchange program.

"We learned so much about the Chinese rich culture and heritage," Fridley said. "Actually to go there and visit China is something none of us will ever forget."

During his trip to the United States in November 2023, Xi announced that China is ready to invite 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study programs in the next five years.

With Xi's support, more than 20 Muscatine High School students visited Beijing, Shanghai and Hebei Province on Jan. 24-30. On Jan. 28, just before the end of their trip, the American students wrote a letter to express their joy and gratitude to Xi for the invitation.

In his reply, Xi said "seeing is believing," encouraging the Muscatine High School students to revisit China and encouraging more young American people to come to China.

"Some of our sister schools have invited us back on some trips," Fridley told Xinhua. "As we get invited, we're gonna have plans to take kids along to China, and then we want to invite Chinese students and families and teachers back to Muscatine, Iowa."

As a token of thanks, American students sang a song specially composed for the friendship between China and Muscatine in Chinese at the reception.

Students from Muscatine High School sing a song in Chinese at a reception marking the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations in Chicago, the United States, Feb. 27, 2024. [Xinhua/Xu Jing]

On learning of Xi's reply to their letter, "my students were all very excited," Guo Qianyu, a Chinese language teacher at the school, told Xinhua.

The January China trip is "eye-popping." "Many students ask me, 'can I come again?' 'can we stay longer?'," Guo said. During their stay in China, the American students exchanged WeChat with their Chinese peers, hoping to keep in touch.

"I'm gonna be back (to China) for like a month (this summer) and so I'm really excited to do that," Cole Loos, a 10th grader who was among those on the January trip, told Xinhua.

"I felt like kind of honored, especially that he (President Xi) responded personally to it," said Leo Regennitter, a sophomore at the school.

"I would love to go back to China. I loved it there. It was so awesome," he said.

Addressing the reception, Consul General Zhao said that the U.S. Mid-western region has always played an important role in growing China-U.S. relations.

Zhao expressed the hope that "the exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States could thrive like a soaring dragon."