Some 30 middle and primary school students from Shenzhen, Guangdong province, visited the embassy of El Salvador in Beijing on Jan 16.

They learned about the Central American country's landmarks, plants, population, and cuisine, as well as information about environmental protection, through a series of animated films produced by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of El Salvador titled Friends of the Environment.

Ambassador Luis Lopez said that El Salvador and China established diplomatic relations in 2018, and he took up his post in October 2024.

"Through these cultural exchange activities, we hope that children will develop a better understanding of El Salvador. Although the distance between them is great, our two countries share many similarities and environmental protection initiatives," Lopez said.

Thanks to its climate and geographical environment, El Salvador is renowned for producing coffee, honey and tropical fruit.

"The connections between our two countries are becoming increasingly close, and products like El Salvador's fruit juice, coffee, and alcohol are now available on domestic e-commerce platforms such as Taobao," an embassy staffer said.

Zhuang Zixian, a student from the Nanshan Foreign Language School in Shenzhen, was one of those who participated in the event. "Being able to visit the embassy and meet the ambassador face-to-face made the once unfamiliar country feel more concrete and approachable."

Lopez says he will work to promote economic, cultural, and other exchanges between the two countries to lay a better foundation for friendship. He welcomed more student visits to the embassy and expressed hope that they would become "little ambassadors" of friendly exchange.