The 100,000 Strong Foundation, set up to increase the number of US students studying abroad in China, has this week rebranded to become the US-China Strong Foundation.

President Barack Obama has announced a new initiative to increase the number of K-12 students in the US studying Mandarin over the next five years to one million, in an extension of the 100,000 Strong programme.

Chinese President Xi Jinping put his weight behind the expansion of Mandarin language teaching overseas, during visits to the US and UK this month, as leaders from both countries agreed that language is the best way to create truly bilateral relations.