The 100,000 Strong Foundation – a global nonprofit focused on strengthening US-China relations – announced today that is changing its name to the US-China Strong Foundation.

"We are thrilled to rebrand as the US-China Strong Foundation to reflect our evolving and expanding mission," said Carola McGiffert, CEO of US-China Strong. "This is an exciting new chapter for the foundation – one that will allow us to work even more effectively with our US and Chinese stakeholders – from our youngest students to most senior political leaders – to deepen and enhance US-China ties."

The rebranding underscores the foundation's mission to strengthen US-China relations by investing in a new generation of leaders who have the knowledge and skills to engage with China, the organization said in a press release. The foundation will continue to focus on its three core initiatives, including 1 Million Strong, which seeks to increase the number of US K-12 students learning Mandarin to 1 million by 2020.

The announcement was made at the seventh annual US-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE) in Beijing. The CPE, led by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong, brings together representatives from the US and Chinese governments, academia, civil society and nongovernmental organizations to explore ways to deepen the bilateral relationship through culture, education, science and technology, sports, women's issues and health.

In 2009, US President Barack Obama announced 100,000 Strong as a State Department initiative. It was formally established as an independent nonprofit in 2013 by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Since its inception, the foundation has worked to grow and diversify the number of Americans studying abroad in China and learning Mandarin. In September 2015, presidents Xi Jinping and Obama broadened the foundation's mission to include a major expansion of Mandarin language learning in the US K-12 system.