Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng Addresses 2026 Kuliang Forum, Citing New Five-Year Youth Exchange Initiative
Xie Feng, China's ambassador to the United States, delivered a keynote speech by video on November 4 at the 2026 Kuliang Forum, titled "Carrying Forward a Century of Kuliang Bonds, Writing a New Chapter of China-U.S. Friendship." The speech, published the same day on the website of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, revisited the Kuliang story and the Muscatine friendship and outlined a new people-to-people exchange initiative announced during the state visit in September.
Xie said that "the hope of China-U.S. relations lies in the people, its foundation is in grassroots connections, its future depends on the youth, and its vitality comes from local exchanges." He recalled that in 1992, Xi Jinping, then Party secretary of Fuzhou, read the Kuliang story in a newspaper and helped Mrs. Gardner travel to China to fulfill her late husband's wish, making Kuliang an enduring symbol of friendship between the two peoples. Xi's 1985 visit to Muscatine, Iowa, where he stayed with a local family, likewise turned Muscatine into a "city of friendship," he said.
According to Xie, the "50,000 in five years" youth exchange initiative proposed in 2023 reached its target two and a half years ahead of schedule. During Xi's state visit to the United States in September, a new "100,000 in five years" initiative was put forward to expand platforms for youth exchanges. He also cited the Flying Tigers veterans and Dr. George Hatem (Ma Haide) as lasting examples of friendship, alongside newer chapters such as U.S. youth pickleball exchanges in China and the One Voice Children's Choir performing for Chinese audiences.
Xie called this year a landmark year for China-U.S. relations, noting that the two heads of state exchanged historic visits within six months and repeatedly stressed people-to-people exchanges. The two leaders are also expected to meet on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and the G20 Summit, he said, calling for more "friends of Kuliang" to turn high-level consensus into concrete cross-Pacific cooperation.
Kuliang, in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, was a hill resort where Western residents lived from the late 19th century; the story of Milton and Elizabeth Gardner originated there. The Kuliang Forum is a people-to-people exchange event built around that history, and Ambassador Xie addressed this year's forum remotely.
(Source: Chinese Embassy in the United States)
Source: Chinese Embassy in the United States
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 中国驻美国大使馆官网发布的谢锋大使演讲照片（官方发布）
