Announcement: The application deadline for the FACES 2026 Summit is October 12, 2025. You still have time to apply!

Applications are out now and can be completed here; there will be a quick round of interviews for applicants who advance. The list of chosen student delegates will be announced sometime in late October. For more information about this year’s summit, please continue to read below.

The 2026 FACES Annual Summit will take place at Stanford University from January 19, 2026 to January 25, 2026. As communication between the U.S. and China begins to reopen, we hope to help students worldwide meet and learn from leading experts about the most pressing issues today in U.S.-China relations. With the increased tensions of the last few years, it is perhaps now more important than ever for active dialogue to be happening between the two countries’ top institutions.

In the past, FACES has invited prominent political figures such as former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. We have also invited scholars and businesspeople such as Susan Shirk, Chair of the 21st Century China Center and Professor at U.C. San Diego, and Jin Liqun, the current President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. For a more detailed list, please see here.

We will be hosting 25 Chinese and American undergraduate delegates for this year’s summit. No fees are required to attend the summit, and FACES will provide lodging inside student dorms and food for attendees over the conference’s entire duration, free of charge. Financial aid for travel expenses will be given on a needs-basis. Delegates must be:

  1. Between the ages of 18 to 28 years old during the summit

  2. Proficient enough in English to communicate fluently in a scholarly setting

  3. Interested in U.S.-China relations and capable of both learning from and contributing to the 2025 FACES Annual Summit

 
 

If you have any further questions about FACES or the summit, please feel free to email us at either sujinlyu@stanford.edu or beikunw@stanford.edu. We look forward to seeing your applications!