(ECNS) -- A survey conducted by cn.chinadaily.com.cn showed that near eighty percent of young people from both China and the United States are interested in Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the U.S..
Xi will pay a state visit to the world's largest economy from September 22 to 25 at the invitation of U.S. President Barack Obama.
The survey, covering 2,176 respondents aged from 18 to 28 from both countries, revealed that 54.1 percent of Americans knew about the upcoming visit while 75.7 percent would like to learn more about it. In turn, 71.6 percent of Chinese knew about it and 76.4 showed interest.
Chen Fengying, a director with China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, pointed out that young people have showed a higher level of engagement in relations between the two nations.
Moreover, 55.1 percent of Americans and 48.7 percent of Chinese believed China-U.S. ties were the most important among all bilateral relations; 78.4 percent of Americans and 78.6 of Chinese agreed that mutual trade benefits both countries.
The survey also showed that the Internet was the main bridge for young people from both countries to learn more about each other. Around 74.4 percent of Americans learned about China from online news and 49.5 from social media. The Chinese side showed that over 80 percent got access to American information via online sources.
Thanks to the popularity of U.S. TV shows and movies in China, 47.6 percent of surveyed Chinese got to learn about the U.S. through onscreen programs. Only some 10 percent of Americans have acquired knowledge about China via this medium.
