"Expanding and strengthening these people-to-people connections is the lifeblood of our public diplomacy efforts and it is central to our foreign policy and national security," she continues. "As President Eisenhower wrote almost 55 years ago,

Jon Huntsman, U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, called the 30 per cent increase in Chinese students studying at American universities "good news" for the American education system and economy, as well as the U.S.-China bilateral relationship. In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal on December 1, Huntsman also noted that "this is a two-way street, and while we welcome the continued rise in the number of Chinese students in the United States, it is equally important that we also grow the number of American students studying in China."

The ambassador also detailed how encouraging Chinese students (and international students in general) to come to the U.S. is a boon for the economy:

"According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, international students pumped $19.9 billion dollars into the U.S. economy in 2009-10. Considering that 18.5% of foreign students in the United States hailed from China in the 2009-2010 academic year, Chinese students are spending billions of dollars in the United States, helping to rejuvenate the economies of communities from across the United States."