During the Year of the Horse, the small town of Muscatine in Iowa, US, has once again received festive greetings from Beijing.
On February 16th, President Xi Jinping replied to a letter from friends in Iowa and sent them a New Year's card, extending festive greetings and expressing "the hope of China-US relations lies in the people, the foundation is in the grassroots, the future is in the youth, and the vitality is in the local level.
The profound friendship between President Xi Jinping and his friends in Iowa has continued for 41 years.

"The exchange of New Year's greetings Muscatine and Beijing is a reflection of our mutual value of friendship." In Muscatine, Iowa friends and American teenagers are greatly encouraged. In interviews with Xinhua Agency reporters, they all expressed their gratitude for President Xi Jinping's warm greetings, their resonance with his sincere words, and their desire to promote friendly relations between the Chinese American people and the stable and healthy development of China-US relations.

Across-ocean New Year's blessings
"I vividly remember the warm reception I received during my visit to Iowa41 years ago," President Xi recalled the story of friendship.
Before that, U.S. friends from Iowa, including Bill Bon, wrote to President to extend New Year's blessings to him and Professor Peng, expressing that they cherish the friendship with the Chinese people and will continue to develop it. Bill Bon, Randy,Wit, Kimberly, former Ambassador to China Branstad, and World Food Prize Foundation Honorary Chairman Quinn, along with teachers and students from Iowa who participated in the5 Years, 50,000" initiative to visit China, also sent New Year's cards to President Xi and his wife, expressing their willingness to work hard promote friendly exchanges between China and the United States and contribute to the development of bilateral relations.
Bill Bon told reporters that through the exchange of New Year's, they hope to continue the deep friendship between local friends and President Xi, which will further consolidate Iowa's friendly relations with China.
From the Lantern Festival of the Year of the Dragon to the Spring Festival Greetings to friends in Iowa before the Spring Festival of the of the Snake, and then to this year's New Year's interaction, President Xi Jinping has revisited the friendship forged with the American people since his first visit to United States in 1985 on many occasions.
In 1985, Xi, who was then the Secretary of the Zhengding County Committee in Hebei Province, led a delegation to visit Muscatine, where Randy, Beron and others participated in the reception work. In 2012,, who was then the Vice President of China, revisited Muscatine and reunited with old friends. In November 2023, President Xi Jinping met with of American friendly people, including Randy, before attending a joint welcome banquet of American friendly groups in San Francisco. During his speech, he emotionally recalled his first visit to the United.
"President Xi Jinping always keeps in mind the pleasant experience and friendship in Iowa 41 years ago, and cares about the people here. This New's blessing from overseas is very touching," Gary Devorchak, a local friend, told reporters.
President Xi Jinping stayed with Gary's, the Devorchak couple, during his visit to Iowa in 1985. This year, Gary and his family signed the New Year's card. He told reporters that it was the old friends who signed the card first, and many local people also wanted to express their greetings, blessings and thanks to President Xi Jinping after learning, and the number of signers grew.
President Xi Jinping encouraged the friends in Iowa in his letter to "continue to devote themselves to promoting friendly exchanges between the two peoples, encourage American teenagers to become inheritors of Sino-US friendship and promoters of peace and friendship, and make greater contributions to the development of bilateral relations."
 Stein, chairman of the Iowa China Friendship Committee, told reporters that President Xi Jinping's blessings have greatly encouraged everyone and "give us the motivation to continue to promote friendly between the two peoples and the development of relations between the two countries."
Carrying forward this friendship
"No matter how the situation changes the desire for exchanges and cooperation between the people of China and the United States will not change, and the friendship and affection between the youth of the two countries will not change," Xi Jinping said.
Ms. Landi strongly agreed. In an interview with reporters, she said that people-to-people friendship plays an important role in stability and development of China-US relations. For friends in Iowa, the friendship with President Xi Jinping over the past 41 years is extremely precious, "and now we to carry forward this friendship."
Speaking in San Francisco in November 2023, President Xi Jinping announced his willingness to invite 5,000 young Americans to China for exchanges and study over the next five years. Following that, Landi wrote to President Xi, hoping that Muscatine High School could participate in the plan. In his reply, President Xi expressed his welcome and encouraged more young Americans to "understand a real, multi-dimensional, and comprehensive China, and build bridges of mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples."
The scene of students signing up enthusiastically still lingers in Stine's memory. He told that since the launch of the "50,000 in 5 years" initiative, it has provided an "excellent opportunity" for American teenagers to perceive China and friendship, enhance mutual understanding between the two sides, and is good for the relations between the two countries and the world.
"We now have a deeper understanding of significance of the '50,000 in 5 years' initiative," said Bellon. The deep friendship between friends in Iowa and President Xi Jinping is precisely in the willingness to be friends and partners, and in actions of mutual respect and learning from each other.
"The '50,000 in  years' initiative is a fruitful measure to advance the relations between the two countries, and the establishment of new friendships between the young people of the two countries is the most precious harvest of initiative," he said with emotion. "This initiative is a new starting point."
An unforgettable experience
Since the launch of the "5,000 in 5 years" initiative over two years ago, President Xi Jinping has written back to American teenagers involved in the initiative on several occasions.
To date, over 40,000 American teenagers have actively participated in the initiative. "This fully demonstrates that friendly exchanges and cooperation are what the people of China and United States aspire," President Xi Jinping pointed out on January 7, 2026, in his reply to the American Youth Education Exchange Delegation.
"Many young people have enriched their life experiences and forged lifelong friendships by traveling and studying in China," Bellon wrote in his letter to President Xi Jinping about achievements of Iowa teenagers participating in the "50,000 in 5 years" initiative. He told reporters that they are currently preparing for a trip to China by local people this spring.
Many young people from Iowa who have visited China through the "5 Years, 50,000" initiative have signed their on the greeting cards. The two most important words they want to tell President Xi are "Thank you" and "unforgettable".
Tate, a student, thanked President Xi for this initiative. He said, "The trip to China is an unforgettable experience that will deeply affect my future. I am willing to contribute to world peace"
"I would like to express my deepest gratitude to President Xi! Thank you for inviting us to understand and experience your country, which is a worthwhile experience to for a lifetime and has deeply touched my heart." said student Avery.
"It was a precious opportunity for us to get to know the great Chinese people Everyone I met during my trip to China was so kind and friendly," said student Charlie.
Ms. Mu Yanling, a friendly American, told reporters that has visited China many times in the past two years and has witnessed the excitement of American teenagers participating in the "5 Years, 50,000" initiative. " these exchange activities, they perceive the real China, from daily life to history and culture, and bring their understanding and affinity for China back home."
"This has become a bridge for our dialogue and friendship." she said.