A new round of funds has been raised by private sectors from Beijing and Washington as the latest pledges to promote US students to study in China under government initiatives.

Companies from both sides have contributed more than $1 million this year to bolster the 100,000 Strong Initiative, a US effort to significantly increase the number and diversity of US students studying in China.

These endeavors were in conjuncture with Vice-President Xi Jinping's recent visit to the US, where he met with students taking Mandarin courses at a California middle school and reiterated the importance of people-to-people exchanges, said Carola McGiffert, director of the initiative in Shanghai.