People-to-people exchanges key to addressing misunderstanding

The 14th China-US Tourism Leadership Summit that opened in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, on Wednesday, is expected to serve as an important bridge to further facilitate exchanges and closer understanding between the peoples of China and the United States.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US. A lesson for the two countries is that they benefit from cooperation and lose from confrontation, and bilateral relations can only be based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. Last November, the heads of state of the two countries reached a series of common understandings on the future development of bilateral ties and launched the "San Francisco vision", agreeing to take joint actions to strengthen people-to-people exchanges and promote the steady and long-term development of ties.

China and the US differ in history, culture, social systems and development paths, but their people are friendly, hardworking and pragmatic. It is goodwill and friendship between the two peoples that have brought China-US relations back on the right track again and again. However, in recent years, some in the US see China as a strategic rival and make containment a priority in their China policy.

This highlights the greater need for the two countries to build more roads rather than barriers.

China has introduced a series of major policy measures to facilitate people-to-people exchanges and the US should work with China to reduce policy obstacles on travel, visa and entry, increase direct flights, adjust the travel alert level for China, and encourage and support people from various sectors to strengthen exchanges.

The foundation of China-US relations was built by the people, the door of China-US ties was opened by the people, the story of the relations is written by the people, and the future of the ties will certainly be created by the two peoples. The two countries should respond to the people's desire to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, actively promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges with a long-term vision, and inject a stronger stabilizing force into the development of bilateral relations.

- BEIJING YOUTH DAILY