The Bond with Kuliang: 2026 China-U.S. Youth Baseball Exhibition Games and Sports Festival commenced on June 29 at the Fuzhou Strait International Conference and Exhibition Centre in Fujian Province. Themed "Pitch across Oceans, Catch the Future", the event was jointly hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the General Administration of Sport of China, and the People's Government of Fujian Province. Approximately 400 participants, including members of eight youth baseball teams from China and the United States, attended the opening ceremony.

Three key outcomes of Fujian-U.S. friendship exchanges were unveiled during the ceremony. These included the signing of an MOU between the Fujian Provincial People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation. Additionally, sister-city cooperation MOUs were signed between Fuzhou and the cities of Honolulu and Tacoma. The establishment of the China-U.S. Youth Exchange Camp in Kuliang was also announced to serve as a physical platform for long-term youth exchanges.

The opening ceremony featured cultural performances blending table tennis and baseball elements, recalling the 55th anniversary of China-U.S. Ping-Pong Diplomacy. Interactive zones at the venue included table tennis experience areas, a "Bond with Kuliang" themed exhibition, photo-op areas, and a jasmine tea intangible cultural heritage experience. These zones were designed to integrate historical exhibitions, sports interaction, city promotion, and cultural heritage.

Scheduled to run through July 2, the festival will feature friendly matches in Pingtan county among the eight Chinese and American youth baseball teams. Participants will also visit secondary schools and universities in Fuzhou to engage in sports interactions, intangible cultural heritage workshops, and sci-tech exchanges. Concurrent activities include a "Friends of Kuliang" storytelling session and the opening of the China-U.S. Youth Friendship Park.

This event serves as a landmark people-to-people exchange project and is part of an initiative to invite 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study programs over five years. The initiative leverages Kuliang's century-old cultural legacy to ensure that the "Kuliang bond" remains vibrant and is passed down through younger generations.