China Education Association for International Exchange

Primary/Secondary schools

The 1000 Schools Hands Together Initiative was officially launched by China’s then Vice Premier Yandong Liu and then U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the 5th China-U.S. High level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange in 2014. The Initiative was highly valued in the two countries, and it was endorsed by both Professor Liyuan Peng and Madame Michelle Obama with congratulatory letters. China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) currently delivers and manages this program. With the main theme Environmental Protection, topics such as global warming and biodiversity conservation are placed at the centers of the discussion on an international scale. The initiative is envisioned to build connections between schools in China and the U.S., where specialized activities are designed to facilitate students’ awareness of current environmental issues and take concrete actions from the very early age, leading the young people to become responsible global citizens. With this meaningful partnership between Chinese and American primary/secondary schools, the younger generations will gain a comprehensive understanding of healthy lifestyles and raise the awareness of protecting our only planet. Currently, the exchange topic also covers the area of world heritage protection and STEAM, arts, sports, and music,etc. Up to date, there are 1,179 Chinese member schools.

The program: -Links U.S. and Chinese partner schools with both online connection and school exchanges; -Sets up collaborative projects such as green campus, climate change, world heritage protection; -Provides the younger generation with the opportunity to work with their American peers on environmental-based, world heritage protection, STEAM, Arts, Sports and Music activities; -holds forums on teaching and learning for program school educators and offers chances to share best practices of teaching and learning with national and international counterparts.