Universities, naturally, are often on the forefront of international exchange programs.

Fudan University, for example, has established a special club in the interest of improving Sino-US relations through the exchange of young students. The Fudan International Student Communication Association (FISCA) selects 40 students annually from Chinese universities to attend the "On Common Ground" student leaders conferences, which are held twice a year in China and the US respectively.

"Young people, wherever they come from, share a lot in common. That's why we call the conference 'On Common Ground', " said Shi Zhaolei, president of FISCA.

Having been on frequent exchange programs to the US on various topics ranging from disarmament to global warming, Shi believes that face-to-face communication with foreign students is an effective way to clear up misunderstanding.

"Americans see China with stereotypes - just as we sometimes do to them. But through candid exchanges of views, we learn the decision-making of the US government, and they get to know the diversity of China," Shi said.

"The younger generation in China should have a global perspective, and show the world a true China," said Shi.

A survey co-conducted in 2009 by China Daily and Genron NPO, a Japanese nonprofit think tank, revealed that 90.7 percent of Chinese students and 95.8 percent of Japanese students believe people-to-people exchanges are "important" in improving relations.

Another joint study by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the leading Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun suggested that Chinese who have studied or lived in Japan tended to hold a more favorable opinion on Japan, and vice versa.

Pang Zhongying, a senior scholar on diplomatic studies at Renmin University of China, said people-to-people exchanges have always played an important role in diplomacy.

"In the case of China and Japan, public diplomacy not only helped the two countries normalize relations in the 1970s but also improved the bilateral ties when they were strained by sensitive issues," Pang said.

As China has undergone dramatic social transformations, the world is eyeing the future generation of China, which holds a much broader perspective and new thinking, Pang said.

And the West is also concerned about the emergence of so-called young nationalism and Internet nationalism in China, said Pang.

He Wei, Yu Yang and Chen Jia contributed to this story.