Hong Yinxing, chancellor of Nanjing University, gives a keynote address on Monday in Washington to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center.

Two major universities in the United States and China celebrated the 25th anniversary of their joint education venture in Washington on Monday.

The Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies, a program that offers a master's degree in international studies fully accredited in both China and the US, received a congratulatory letter from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"By bringing young American and Chinese students to live and study together, the center has helped build a generation of leaders on both sides of the Pacific, with deep understanding of each other's history and culture," the letter said. "This connection was important 25 years ago, and it's even more critical now."

The letter emphasized the importance of US-Sino ties and said that the US and China, as the two largest economies in the world, must work together to achieve global growth and prosperity. It also said the center's students "put a human face on this critical connection".

When the program was established in 1986, Johns Hopkins became the first American university to establish a formal presence in China. More than 2,000 graduates of the program have worked in diplomacy, business, academia, journalism, government, finance and nonprofit organizations in China, the US and other countries.

The center is Johns Hopkins' international campus of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

For Margaret K. Lewis, a graduate of the center in 1998, the training at the program prepared her to become an associate professor of law at Seton Hall University Law School.

"The knowledge and cultural understanding we gained in Nanjing are increasingly valuable, not just to us personally, but also to the world at large," she said.

Her current research focuses on the intersection of Chinese legal studies with criminal procedures and international law.

"The Hopkins-Nanjing Center and SAIS are among the best academic programs in preparing the next generation of leaders, and I find myself running into capable and competent alumni in all levels of the workplace," said Jeffrey Tang, a foreign affairs officer at the US Department of State who also graduated from the program.

Located in downtown Nanjing, the capital of eastern China's Jiangsu province, the education venture offers three degrees: a one-year certificate, a two-year master's of arts in international studies and a five-semester degree option in Nanjing and Washington.

The hope, according to the Hopkins-Nanjing Center website, "was that one day, the US Secretary of State and the Chinese Foreign Minister will find that they are both graduates of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies".

Hong Yinxing, professor of economics and chancellor of Nanjing University, gave a keynote address themed "an Analysis of the Chinese Macroeconomy" on Monday's celebratory event in Washington.

Hong earlier told China Daily that his delegation aims to promote Nanjing University as an outstanding high-learning institution. He also said he hopes to foster more exchanges with American and Canadian counterparts.