A student from University of Georgia in US introduces himself at a cultural exchange program in a Zhuhai university. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

An agreement on extension of a summer program that allows US students to learn Chinese in China for the next two years was signed on Thursday in Wilmington in the northeast US state of Delaware.

Chinese sponsors, China's auto parts manufacturer Wanxiang Group, and the China General Chamber of Commerce in USA (CGCC), representing Chinese enterprises in the United States, signed the agreement with the Delaware State, promising to extend the program to 2016 and 2017.

The program, which began earlier this year, is part of a new initiative called "1 Million Strong" proposed by US President Barack Obama during Chinese President Xi Jinxing's state visit this September. It aims to encourage 1 million American students to learn Mandarin Chinese over the next five years.

The initiative follows the "100,000 Strong Initiative," which was launched by Obama in 2009 with an aim to reach 100,000 cumulative number of Americans studying in China over a five-year period. The goal was achieved in 2014.

During the past summer, 20 high school students from Delaware, whose expenses were funded by Wanxiang and the CGCC, went to study for four weeks in China's eastern city of Hangzhou, where they took language classes, visited local schools, participated in cultural activities and toured sites of science and technology companies.

Jack Markell, governor of the US state of Delaware, told Xinhua after the ceremony that the program is significant because those US students "would have so many opportunities if they were able to speak Chinese, and just the whole world opens up to them."

His words were echoed by many others.