The future of China-United States relations lies with young people, President Xi Jinping said in a recent reply to teachers and students of the US youth pickleball cultural exchange delegation from the US state of Maryland.

In April, the delegation from public schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, visited China for pickleball exchanges as part of the initiative to invite 50,000 young Americans to China over a five-year span for exchange and study programs.

The delegation later wrote a letter to Xi, thanking him for proposing the study and exchange initiative, which was first announced by Xi during his trip to the US in 2023.

In the letter, the delegation members described their experiences during their visit to China and their participation in the pickleball exchange program.

They said the trip enabled them to forge unforgettable friendships with their Chinese counterparts and that they hope to invite Chinese youths to visit the US.

In his reply, Xi congratulated them on the success of their visit to China and said he is very happy to see pickleball become a new bond bridging the youths of China and the US.

Xi said that he hopes the delegation members will become a new generation of ambassadors of friendship between the two nations and make greater contributions to enhancing the friendship between the two peoples.

Pickleball, a rapidly growing sport in the US, is a hybrid of tennis, badminton and table tennis.

From April 10 to 20, the delegation of 44 students and teachers from 13 schools in Montgomery County visited Shanghai, Shenzhen in Guangdong province, and Beijing, according to Xinhua News Agency.

"Through pickleball, it is very easy to make friends. It's great for creating bonds that will last forever," Ryan Corkery, a student with the delegation, told Chinese reporters during the trip.

"This journey has been amazing," he added. "We have tasted so many new foods, had so many new experiences, everything is just fantastic."

Ian Harper, another student with the delegation, said: "It is awesome just seeing both how different everything here is and how much similar it is. I think both of those were really shocking to me. It has been just an incredible, life-changing, amazing, awesome experience."

As part of his consistent support for China-US youth exchanges, President Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, replied on Jan 1 to a Chinese New Year greeting card from teachers and students of Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington, extending best wishes for the Year of the Dragon.

Xie Feng, Chinese ambassador to the US, told a cultural event on Jan 11 that nearly 15,000 youths from all 50 US states and Washington, DC, had so far visited China under the initiative to invite 50,000 young Americans to China for exchanges.

From Wednesday to July 18, Fu-zhou, the capital of Fujian province, and Beijing will provide venues for the Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-US Youth Choir Festival — another major China-US youth exchange event.

The event is expected to bring together outstanding choirs from China and the US, including over 500 young people from US states including Utah, Washington and California.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn