On May 5, 2026, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng gave an exclusive interview to Senior Foreign Policy Writer Tom O’Connor from Newsweek on U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to China and China-U.S. relations.

Tom O’Connor asked: Are you aware of the “Becoming Chinese” and “Chinamaxxing” trends involving Western users adopting Chinese culture as fashionable? What does this mean for China-U.S. people-to-people interactions and relations?

Ambassador Xie said that both trends reflect the growing eagerness of our two peoples to reach out to one another. President Xi Jinping pointed out that the hope of the China-U.S. relationship lies in the people, its foundation is in our societies, its future depends on the youth, and its vitality comes from exchanges at subnational levels. The “50,000 in five years” initiative announced by President Xi in 2023 to invite 50,000 young Americans to China on exchange and study programs in five years has significantly boosted interactions between our peoples. Since last year, we have witnessed a positive rebound in U.S. public opinion toward China for the first time in five years, and a poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs showed that 53% of Americans favor friendly cooperation and engagement with China. According to a latest Pew Research Center survey, the proportion of Americans having a positive opinion of China has nearly doubled since 2023. The desire of our two peoples to build closer ties is simply unstoppable.

Ambassador Xie noted that in fact, this is not the first time “Chinamaxxing” has occurred. As early as over 1,000 years ago, envoys, caravans, and scholars from more than 300 countries traveled to Chang’an, the capital of China’s Tang Dynasty, to live, study, and work there, writing an epic chapter of history in which diverse cultures met, blended, and resonated in perfect harmony. Today, Generation Z are sharing online their fascinating experience of drinking hot water, and marveling at speedy food delivery and efficient mobile payments in China. In admiring everyday joys of modern China, young people are expressing their love for life and their interest in learning more about each other’s cultures. It is really heartwarming to see such vibrant cultural exchanges happening. Earlier this month, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. hosted an Open House again, which attracted over 7,000 American visitors. Some of them complained to us that, one day is far from enough to experience the rich program, and they wish the Embassy could open its doors every day. While this is challenging, the doors of our country are open 24 hours a day. We welcome more American students to study in China, and more American people to take advantage of our 240-hour visa-free transit policy and online visa application system to travel to China and have a wonderful journey.

Ambassador Xie pointed out that at the same time, the potential of China-U.S. people-to-people exchanges is yet to be fully unlocked. We hope the U.S. side will remove bottlenecks in visa application and border entry for Chinese citizens as soon as possible, stop taking selective and discriminatory measures toward Chinese visitors, and further increase direct flights, so that together we can open up a fast track for two-way engagement between our peoples.