When Connie Sweeris stepped onto the table tennis court in Nagoya, Japan, 54 years ago, she did not expect the match to become part of a turning point in China-US relations. At the 1971 World Table Tennis Championships, the former US national team player was among those who accepted an invitation from the Chinese delegation to play a series of "friendship matches" in China, an exchange that soon drew international attention and later became known as ping-pong diplomacy.

Sweeris recalled that the Chinese team had returned to the world championships that year after a six-year absence, and that the invitation came on the final day of the competition.

"On the last day of the competition, the Chinese delegation invited the American table tennis team to extend their trip and go to China to play what they called friendship matches — friendship first, competition second," she said at a forum marking the 54th anniversary of ping-pong diplomacy on Dec 22 in Los Angeles.

At the time, no American had visited China for 22 years, so the visit marked an unprecedented people-to-people exchange amid a prolonged period of limited contact between the two countries. Sweeris said she felt "privileged to be one of those people" able to take part in the trip.

One of the most memorable moments of the visit, she said, came when the delegation met Premier Zhou Enlai at the Great Hall of the People, who greeted them with the words, "What joy it is to greet friends from afar."

Looking back, Sweeris said the broader significance of ping-pong diplomacy lay in how it "opened up the door for communication". She expressed hope that younger generations of athletes would continue the legacy of sports exchanges, noting that participants at a later anniversary planted a redwood tree, a symbol of a friendship intended to last "for 1,000 years".

More than five decades later, the legacy of ping-pong diplomacy continues to be commemorated and discussed. At the forum, former athletes, diplomats and community leaders from the All American Chinese Association gathered to mark the 54th anniversary of the exchange and reflect on the role of sports in fostering dialogue and mutual understanding.

"Tonight, we gather not just to honor the legacy of ping-pong diplomacy, but to carry it forward," said Virginia Sung, CEO of the USA Table Tennis Association. "To continue using sport as a bridge to strengthen relationships rooted in mutual respect and to ensure the next generation understands the power of connection."

Chinese Consul General in Los Angeles Guo Shaochun said the 1971 exchange helped break a prolonged period of separation between China and the United States.

"Fifty-four years ago, young table tennis players from China and the US planted the seeds of friendship and sincerity, breaking the ice of 22 years of separation between the two countries," Guo said. "It opened a new chapter of our friendship that has lasted for more than half a century and has become an iconic moment in China-US relations."

Guo recounted the story of Jeffrey Lehman, whose career path was influenced by the early exchanges. In the spring of 1972, Lehman, then a high school student in Maryland, attended a match played by the visiting Chinese national table tennis team with his father.

Now vice-chancellor of NYU Shanghai, Lehman has said the experience later shaped his decision to come to China. "Part of the reason I came to China may have been the influence of ping-pong diplomacy," he said. "It taught me to cross borders, make new friends and discover myself in new ways."

Guo said the influence of ping-pong diplomacy continues to resonate today. "The spark lit by a ping-pong ball more than 50 years ago has grown into a bright torch, continuing to illuminate the path of China-US friendship," he said, adding that it reflects the shared desire of people in both countries to enhance interaction and understanding.

Petra Sorling, president of the International Table Tennis Federation, said the spirit of ping-pong diplomacy continues to be reflected in contemporary exchanges. She cited a recent event in Chengdu, Sichuan province, where French and Chinese leaders played table tennis together.

"Ping-pong diplomacy created a small safe space for first exchange, a human encounter visible to the world that made a bigger step possible," she said.

While global communication channels are more developed today, Sorling said opportunities for genuine encounters remain essential. "Today, we do not lack communication, but we lack genuine encounter, the opportunity to meet people who are different and exchange in good faith," she said. "Sport can create that space."

Dragomir Cioroslan, director of international relations for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, reflected on the early moments of the exchange, including the widely cited story of a 19-year-old American player who presented a gift to Chinese athletes — an act often seen as helping pave the way for the normalization of bilateral relations and US president Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972.

"It was the beginning of the end of a long and dangerous silence," Cioroslan said. "It proved that history is not only made in the halls of power by presidents and premiers, but also through the actions of ordinary people."

Cioroslan called for sustained cooperation to address shared global challenges.