InXinjiang(134)｜Council member of the city of Pico Rivera, U.S.: Football forges long‑lasting friendship between Chinese and American Youth

This episode of InXinjiang features Eric Lutz, council member of the city of Pico Rivera, California, U.S. This marks his second visit to northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Last year, he took the initiative to propose bringing a U.S. youth football team to Xinjiang for exchanges, and his wish has now come true.

During this trip, the youth football team from the United States competed and bonded with local young players in Xinjiang. After the matches, players from both sides took photos together and were reluctant to part, forging sincere and pure cross-border youthful friendship on the football pitch.

Eric Lutz shared that the heartwarming scene of the young players connecting with each other after the games deeply touched him and even brought tears to his eyes. He stressed that young people should visit and observe independently, cast aside biased external narratives, and see the real China with their own eyes.

Drawing on the friendly historical legacy of the Flying Tigers, Eric hopes to consolidate the foundation of bilateral people-to-people friendship. He looks forward to continuously deepening people-to-people, cultural and economic exchanges in tourism, education, trade and other fields, so that the long-standing friendship between the two countries can be passed down from generation to generation.