China welcomes more United States citizens to visit the country for exchanges and to contribute to the cause of bilateral friendship, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday.

Recently, exchange activities such as The Bond with Kuliang: 2026 China-U.S. Youth Baseball Exhibition Games and Sports Festival have been successfully held in China, and the number of U.S. visitors to China has also grown rapidly in the first half of this year.

"This fully demonstrates that the peoples of China and the U.S. have common feelings and emotions, and they are fully capable of bridging differences, appreciating one another and building friendship," Mao said at a daily press conference in Beijing.

"We welcome more U.S. citizens to visit China for exchanges, experience a real, multidimensional China comprehensively, and contribute to the cause of China-U.S. friendship," she said.