Beijing, Fuzhou to host China-U.S. youth choir festival promoting  exchanges

The press conference for the Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. Youth Choir Festival and World Youth Conference for Peace is held in Beijing, June 25, 2025. (Photo provided to People's Daily Online)

Beijing and Fuzhou will host the Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. Youth Choir Festival from July 9 to 18, bringing together choirs from both countries to promote cultural exchange and cooperation, Shen Xin, vice president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, announced at a press conference Wednesday.

Shen said the choir festival will bring together 10 American and 23 Chinese choirs under the theme "Singing for Peace."

The choir festival is part of the Kuliang friendship program, which promotes people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and the U.S., and supports a broader initiative announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2023, inviting 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study over five years.

Shen said the events are expected to promote dialogue, mutual trust and friendship among youth, and to advance the values of learning from history and cherishing peace through performances and cultural activities.

"This choir festival not only deepens the significance of the Kuliang friendship program, but also represents the largest themed China-U.S. youth exchange event since the launch of President Xi’s initiative," he said.

Guests display stamps collected during the Bond with Kuliang: 2024 China-U.S. Youth Festival in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, June 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)

Shen also announced a series of activities following the choir festival, including an art exhibition titled "Ode to Peace" and the World Youth Conference for Peace. Shen said the upcoming conference aims to encourage dialogue, mutual trust, friendship and cooperation among young people from all nations.

"They will work together to safeguard global peace and development, and contribute to building a community with a shared future for mankind," he said.

Located in the eastern suburbs of Fuzhou in southeast China's Fujian Province, Kuliang is a hillside resort. Since the 1880s, foreign expatriates living in Fuzhou have built summer villas there, sharing cultures and forming lasting bonds with local residents. Today, Kuliang continues to tell stories of friendship that have lasted for a century.

Intern Geng Yujie contributed to this story.