U.S. Department of State

On April 12, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong hailed the importance of people-to-people engagement during the second annual U.S.-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE). The CPE aims to enhance and strengthen ties between the citizens of the United States and China in the areas of education, culture, sports, science and technology, and women’s issues.

The robust educational relationship between the United States and China supports growing ties in every field. Leaders in both countries recognize the importance of educational cooperation to ensuring a peaceful and prosperous future. Highlights of U.S.-China educational cooperation discussed at the CPE include:

• The U.S. Department of State sends more American students to study in China than to any other country, including through its Fulbright, Gilman, National Strategic Language Initiative-Youth and Critical Language Scholarship programs. Under the 100,000 Strong Initiative, education stakeholders discussed how to expand on this success, and welcomed the Chinese government’s strong support.
   
• The two countries discussed innovative ways to broaden the binational U.S.-China Fulbright program’s reach to younger students from both countries in more fields and to engage community colleges through scholarly exchanges. The U.S.-China Fulbright program has provided support for more than 3,000 American and Chinese students and scholars to study, teach and conduct research in one another’s countries.
   
• Highlighting their progress under the Joint Work Plan, a four-year framework for cooperation, the U.S. Department of Education and the Chinese Ministry of Education are convening more than 130 experts on career and technical education and the green economy, and on science education to learn from one another in ways that strengthen both education systems.
   
• The Peace Corps and its Chinese partners discussed ways to build on the positive contribution of the U.S.-China Friendship Volunteers, who train future English teachers and develop the English skills of Chinese students in vocational areas.
   
• U.S. and Chinese university leaders highlighted their growing collaboration on research and teaching, noting the importance of internationalizing their campuses to preparing students to succeed in an interconnected world.