China: China, U.S. marine science students strengthen ties through ocean voyage.

Shotlist FILE: China - March-April 2026 1. Research vessel sailing 2. Various of Chinese, U.S. students participating in "A Shared Voyage: China-U.S. Youth Friendship Program" posing for group photo 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Benjamin Acosta, PhD student, Columbia University (ending with shot 4): "Hearing back from him (President Xi) was really crazy. I'd love for people to have more buy into what the project was all about, which was, shared friendship, shared science." 4. Various of Acosta sharing his views, findings with students 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Lesley Figueroa, PhD student, UC Santa Barbara: "He (President Xi) actually took the time to read our letter and even respond to it because I know he's very busy. I feel very honored." 6. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Niu Lishan, PhD student, Tsinghua University (ending with shot 7): "We are truly grateful for the '50,000 in Five Years' initiative proposed by President Xi, which has offered young people from both China and the U.S. valuable opportunities for certainty in an otherwise turbulent international landscape. It's remarkable that we could come together aboard an American research vessel and carry out such meaningful scientific and cultural exploration in Chinese waters." 7. Various of Chinese, U.S. students on board, mountains in sea 8. Various of students collecting marine samples, doing research, hugging each other 9. SOUNDBITE (English) Benjamin Acosta, PhD student, Columbia University (starting with shot 8/ending with shot 10): "I have never seen this many krill. It's really crazy. They've got a lot of larger species here, and that means that they probably have a lot of fish and other kinds of higher life forms that feed off this stuff. So it's probably the most productive waters I've seen." 10. Various of students retrieving krill sample, watching krill image on screen 11. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Niu Lishan, PhD student, Tsinghua University (starting with shot 10/ending with shots 12-13): "We learned to operate underwater robots for water quality sampling in shallow-water marine zones. We also collected samples firsthand and conducted related water quality monitoring and analysis." 12. Various of students gaining hands-on experience in underwater robotics, water quality sampling 13. Students on board 14. SOUNDBITE (English) Meredith Kamm, PhD student, Columbia University (starting with shot 13/ending with shot 15): "I've never been on a ship before. I normally do, like I said, on smaller ships and in my lab by myself. With the greater community in this very high-tech environment and using a lot of instruments that I don't normally have access to, which is really incredible." 15. Various of students conducting marine research on board, examining underwater vehicle, taking photos; underwater vehicle in operation 16. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Huang Wei, researcher, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources (starting with shot 15): "This kind of program plants a seed for future cooperation and exchange between China and the U.S., especially in areas such as marine science and climate change. It can help us work together to build a maritime community with a shared future." 17. Marine life 18. Ship sailing 19. Various of Chinese, U.S. students in discussion 20. SOUNDBITE (English) Natalie Lafont, PhD student, Harvard University (starting with shot 19): "I think the United States and China have some of the best researchers in the world. I hope to gain a different perspective in something I've never considered before by talking to these students and understanding how their research works." 21. Vincent Pieribone, OceanX co-CEO and chief science officer, during discussion 22. SOUNDBITE (English) Vincent Pieribone, co-CEO and chief science officer, OceanX (starting with shot 21/ending with shot 23): "Science is a tough business and failure is all over, and both sides see that happens. And it's great to bring people together over a common goal, which is ocean stewardship and ocean science and ocean exploration." 23. Various of students during discussion FILE: Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, east China - China - March-April 2026 24. Various of campus buildings; students walking on campus, visiting laboratories 25. SOUNDBITE (English) Lesley Figueroa, PhD student, UC Santa Barbara (starting with shot 24/ending with shot 26): "I feel like most all the labs at these universities were very well equipped with, not just marine equipment, but research equipment. Students who are there can do multiple, like a variety of projects." 26. Students visiting Navigation Technology Virtual Simulation Experiment Center at Ningbo University; visitors taking photos 27. SOUNDBITE (English) Vincent Pieribone, co-CEO and chief science officer, OceanX: "That's amazing, huh?" 28. SOUNDBITE (English) Lesley Figueroa, PhD student, UC