Bridge of language links both banks

Jones, who had lived in Shanghai, China for about seven years, says he is very happy to see Mandarin becomes popular in the US as English does in China.

"Both countries will be able to speak in a language that they can both understand," he says.

"We don't have to be best friends. We also don't have to be adversaries, but if we can communicate with each other respectfully, that's gonna be able to bridge the gap between both cultures and the best way to start."

"Our mission is all about strengthening US-China relations through students and (the) youth," he adds.

"There's various ways that you can strengthen the US-China relationship on a very immediate level," Jones says.

"(But if you) do that for more long-lasting behavior, you have to start with the youth and you have to start with education."

Jones suggests the best way to start is to get more people to learn Mandarin, "to study, to live there for a significant period of time, to meet teachers, make friends in China and hopefully these are friends who are going to be long lasting for years to come".

The 1 Million Strong initiative is divided into three separate pillars, Jones says.

The first pillar is teacher training.

Second is the curriculum pillar, which makes sure there are proper standards K-12 schools are implementing to learn Mandarin nationwide.

The last pillar is state and local outreach, where teachers will be trained to learn how to better teach Mandarin to K-12 students.

The 1 Million Strong is the second initiative led by the US-China Strong Foundation.

The first, 100,000 Strong, started in 2009 and its initial goal of getting 100,000 American students to study in China by 2014 was not only achieved but also surpassed.