Huang Zhiling/China Daily

To Haymond, exchanges between China and the US should be not only on a governmental level but also between people of the two nations.

He hopes more people from the US will choose to study in western China and more people in western China will travel to the US for education.

In the past year, the US consulate general in Chengdu has issued nearly 83,000 non-immigrant visas, an increase of around 70 percent from three years ago.

"We have just completed a major renovation at the consulate that more than doubles the number of interview windows in our visa section. With the new workspace and with new visa officer positions at the consulate, we are prepared to issue up to 200,000 visas annually in Chengdu in the future," says Haymond in the newly-renovated library in the consulate opposite its visa section.

Haymond's consulate issues visas primarily to applicants in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, Chongqing municipality and the Tibet autonomous region.

The number of Americans studying in western China has increased significantly since 2011.

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