A senior Chinese official has underscored the enduring public appetite for cross-cultural engagement between China and the United States, even as political and trade frictions persist, announcing a youth exchange event to "sing for peace" this summer.
Ties between China and the United States have faced a series of challenges in recent years. But according to Shen Xin, Vice President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, an institution promoting China's people-to-people diplomacy, people from both countries are still interested in learning more about the other side.
His comments come after a visit to the U.S. in late April, coinciding with trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.
Shen also revealed plans for a China-U.S. Youth Choir Festival during an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN). The event, scheduled for July in Fuzhou and Beijing, will bring together over 500 American performers and their Chinese counterparts.
"In the past two years, the China-U.S. relationship faced very strong headwind. So it also caused a lot of problems and obstacles for people-to-people and the sub-national exchanges. Last month I paid a visit to the United States, also visited a lot of friends in different cities. What I found is that American people still have strong interest in having interactions with Chinese people, with Chinese localities -- they still love to come to China. But also we have to admit that we do see a lot of pressures exerted on American friendly organizations and on those American friends who want to develop relationship with China. So this is why we went to the United States to foster a stronger relationship with them to give them the real situation in China to diminish their worries (about coming to China)," said Shen.
Shen linked the choir to the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, framing it as both cultural diplomacy and historical reflection.
"We're going to organize a big festival called China-U.S. Youth Choir Festival, to be held prospectively in Fuzhou and Beijing. So far we have confirmed 10 choir groups from the United States to come to China, with more than 500 people in total. They are going to have exchanges with Chinese young counterparts and have three concerts in two cities. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Second World War and the Chinese People's War Against Japanese Aggression. So the theme of this festival is 'Sing for Peace'. We are going to invite more young professionals and more students come to China as well," he said.
The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) is a national people's organization of the People's Republic of China, dedicated to people-to-people diplomacy.
China-US Youth Choir Festival planned with robust people-to-people ties: official
