Several months ago, at a public school in southern France, students in a Chinese-language class learned that French President Emmanuel Macron would bring a 200-member delegation to China. They immediately put a question to their teacher, Hu Peixin: "Why not take us along?"

Hu, the first Chinese teacher at Ecole Internationale PACA in Manosque, joked: "One day, when you can switch fluently between Chinese and French, perhaps you can be part of such a trip."

But the students soon came up with another idea.

"If we want to go to China, we should make our wish known to the Chinese side," they said, asking Hu whether they could write a letter to China about it.

So they did. More than 20 teenagers, most of them high school students, worked with their teachers to prepare a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping. In the letter, they shared their experiences of learning Chinese and their love for Chinese culture, while expressing their strong willingness to enhance exchanges between Chinese and French youth and to deepen the traditional friendship between the two countries.

To their surprise, a reply arrived on Thursday.

In his reply, Xi said that he welcomed them, along with more young people from France and Europe, to come to China for study, visits and travel, so that they could gain firsthand experience of a real, multidimensional, open and progressive China, and let the Chinese language become a companion in their growth.

Xi's reply came as enthusiasm for learning and using Chinese continues to grow worldwide. By September 2025, 86 countries had incorporated Chinese into their national education systems, and the cumulative number of international learners and users of the language had exceeded 200 million, according to the Ministry of Education.

Speaking to China Daily, Isis Dauvillier, 17, said she had never expected a reply and felt deeply honored.

"We really want to go to China and see with our own eyes the buildings and places we've only seen in textbooks," she said.

Dauvillier has studied at the school since kindergarten. She recalled that Chinese was difficult at first.

"When I began learning Chinese, it was hard. I couldn't understand the characters. So many of the strokes looked like dots and slashes, and it all felt very difficult," she said.

"Now we are already able to read some Chinese news reports, which helps us gain a more comprehensive understanding of history."

Arnaud Quintas, aged 16, joined the school about five years ago and began studying Chinese systematically, while also learning about China's rich and diverse traditional culture.

Speaking of what he hopes to see in China, he said he wants to visit the giant panda base in Sichuan province and also talk with Chinese peers about robotics and China's technological development.

Nicolas Debenne, director of Ecole Internationale PACA in Manosque, told China Daily that the school was thrilled to receive the reply.

"For us, it is truly a great honor to receive a reply. As an ordinary citizen, you never expect to receive a letter from a president. There was a great deal of emotion this morning when we received it in person," he said.

Debenne said promoting language learning is essential because it helps people connect, communicate, exchange ideas and better understand one another.

"It is a powerful way to build connections between people. That is why it is so important for us to teach Chinese, to help French people connect with Chinese people," he said."When you speak the same language, communication becomes much more effective. It is an important way to promote friendship between France and China."

Through learning Chinese, students have come to better understand China's importance for the future, its contributions to the world, and its achievements in research, he said. The learning process has also strengthened their commitment to study and self-improvement.

"They are becoming better and brighter and really good students. They understand that success in the world requires hard work,"Debenne said.

He said he fully agreed with Xi's point in the letter that learning Chinese not only helps young people understand an ancient yet modern China, but also helps build a bridge toward a brighter future for China and France.

"We have to build bridges toward the future and create links between our communities," he said. "That will help create a better future for the world by strengthening the connection between Europe, France and China."

Hu, the Chinese teacher, said the reply would become a treasured memory in the students' lives. She believes it will also encourage them to view the world more broadly through their study of Chinese and pursue their dreams with greater confidence.

Debenne added that learning Chinese can also help strengthen economic and diplomatic ties between the two countries, while enabling young people to share perspectives on the world.

"It will truly help, because the connection will become more effective, and the bonds between our peoples will grow even stronger," he said.

Debenne said he has seen growing interest in learning Chinese in recent years as bilateral ties continue to deepen.

"The relationship between France and China is already strong and very positive," he said. "But we still need to further strengthen this link between the two countries, and this can be very helpful."