(ECNS) --The 2026 Beijing-Taipei youth table tennis exchange opened in Beijing on Thursday, with over 200 young representatives from both sides of the Taiwan Strait taking part.
World champion Wang Nan attended the opening ceremony, serving the first ball and encouraging players to build friendships through sport.
The event also featured cultural performances, robot displays, and “hand in hand” sessions where youth painted together and exchanged jerseys.
The event features both singles matches and mixed-team friendship games, with participants randomly paired through a draw.
During the tournament, the youth will also visit the Shougang Big Air, the iconic venue of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics' freestyle ski big air competition; a robot training center showcasing cutting-edge AI; and the Shijingshan Academy, a cultural education institution dedicated to traditional Chinese learning.
The exchange is part of the 2026 Cross-Strait Youth Summit series and is hosted at the Shougang Ice Hockey Arena, a venue for World Table Tennis (WTT) events.
(By Helen Mo, intern Li Chengzhan)
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