"Last fall," he continued, "I participated in a meeting in the White House that involved President Bush and Chinese State Councilor Chen Zhili. In the conversation, President Bush said that in the future when our successors meet, they will be educated in each other's countries, and that will make a big difference, for they are then well on their way to understanding each other. The President said that because of what Yale was doing, our successors will study in each other's countries, so he was actually giving us credit."

Levin asserted that the young could also gain a level of political understanding through cultural and educational interaction.

The Yale group was broadly representative of the university's different schools, with priority given to individuals who had never been to China. There were over 60 Yale students on the trip, including six Chinese. When the delegation visited the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei stated that China's diplomatic target was to secure a peaceful international environment to guarantee the country's development. "Peace in the world demands cooperation among big countries, including cooperation between China and America. Keeping friendship alive between our two countries is not a temporary task, but a long-term mission, because the two countries are stakeholders and constructional partners, " he said.

During the trip, the delegation also visited the Supreme Court of China and discussed legislative problems with judges such as laws and regulations dealing with intellectual property rights. The students also mingled with their counterparts at Peking University. "We both realized that we are two flowers in the garden of the globe," said a Yale student.

The All-China Youth Federation (ACYF) also played host to the visiting Yale group. Ni Jian, Deputy Secretary General of ACYF, observed that although there were frequent communication between Chinese and U.S. universities, this was the first time that the Chinese President had invited a university delegation to visit China. He said, "To give the delegation an all-round impression of China, we arranged trips not only to big developed cities, but also to rural areas in the west, where they would visit farmers in their homes. Their knowledge of China would be extensive and practical." He also noted that many provincial departments had extended cordial requests that they might hold receptions for the U.S. guests.

Helaine Klasky, Associate Vice President and Director of the Office of Public Affairs of Yale University, told Beijing Review that 85 percent of the delegation members had never been to China before. "There were many students from different schools who had applied to visit China. First, they had to pass a test based on knowledge about China and Chinese culture to show that they were interested. We finally chose several students from each school," she said.

The two countries also regularly send young leaders in political and economic fields to one another, so as to study current socioeconomic and political systems. China's young have spread their wings and flown to other countries as well. Hundreds of Russian and French youth visited China during the Year of France and the Year of Russia programs, and in turn hundreds of young Chinese visited the two countries.