China’s First Lady Peng Liyuan’s English catches attention during Xi’s US visit. Here’s why

China’s First Lady Peng Liyuan has drawn attention after appearing to chat in English with US First Lady Melania Trump without an interpreter during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington this week.

US President Donald Trump and Melania Trump greeted Xi and Peng at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday ahead of the Chinese president’s state visit. After stepping off the plane, the two couples initially spoke with the help of interpreters. But as they walked along the red carpet behind the two presidents, Peng and Melania appeared to chat directly, smiling and speaking to each other until they reached the cameras for the welcoming ceremony, news agency Reuters reported.

After the national anthems were played, the two first ladies had another brief exchange. Peng appeared to mouth the word “wonderful” as they continued chatting without an interpreter for nearly a minute. The conversation itself was not audible.

Xi’s state visit · Sept 23–25, 2026

Peng Liyuan’s Washington moments

China’s first lady and Melania Trump, from the tarmac to the East Room. Tap a stop on the red carpet.

1Joint Base Andrews2White House arrival3Smithsonian4State dinner

Wed, Sept 23 · just before 6pm

A planeside welcome

• Donald and Melania Trump met Xi and Peng at the foot of a 100-foot red carpet, a rare break from the usual White House greeting.
• Two children carried bouquets. Peng stopped to hug a young girl on the tarmac.
• Cannon salute, national anthems, F-16s and F-22s lined up, and a flyover by two B-1 bombers.

The lookPeng: dove-grey dress, pale pink scarf

AlongsideMelania: dark Givenchy skirt suit over a white T-shirt

Thu, Sept 24 · morning

Red carpet at the South Portico

• The Trumps received Xi and Peng at the South Portico, with an Armed Forces full honor cordon lining the drive.
• Army Herald Trumpets sounded a fanfare and nearly 500 military personnel took part in the official welcome.
• A military review in the Rose Garden followed the anthems and speeches.

The lookMelania: black bouclé Alexander McQueen suit

AlongsideIts asymmetric four-button jacket echoed a Chinese-style jacket

Thu, Sept 24 · while the leaders talked

The first ladies’ own outing

• A 45-minute tour of the National Museum of Asian Art as their husbands held talks at the White House.
• Stops: Whistler’s Peacock Room (1876–77) and an 18th-century Qianlong-era porcelain vase from Jingdezhen.
• A children’s choir performed. It was the pair’s first public meeting since Beijing in 2017.

The lookPeng: qipao-style dress, traditional collar, silver flower

AlongsideMelania: black Alexander McQueen tweed

Thu, Sept 24 · evening

Black tie in the East Room

• The two couples posed at the North Portico before dinner in the East Room.
• Trump gave Xi a bald eagle statue. Protesters could be heard outside the gates.
• Among 134 guests: Musk, Bezos, Cook, Zuckerberg, Altman, Huang and three Supreme Court justices.

The lookPeng: full-length bordeaux gown

AlongsideMelania: white Saint Laurent blouse with an oversized bow

Sources: White House, Joint Base Andrews, The Hill, Reuters, SCMP, WWD, Asharq Al-AwsatExpress InfoGenIE

According to professional lip-reader Nicola Hickling, who was quoted by a US tabloid, Peng appeared to ask about Barron Trump, Donald Trump’s youngest son and Melania’s only child. Peng then raised a hand towards her forehead in an apparent gesture about his height. The interpretation comes from lip-reading and cannot independently establish what Peng said.

Peng Liyuan’s role in Xi Jinping’s Washington visit

The English exchange was only one part of Peng’s public role during Xi’s visit. On Thursday, Peng and Melania visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, where a youth choir performed the Chinese folk song “Jasmine Flower”. The children later told Peng, “Thank you, mother Peng!”

China’s ambassador to Washington, Xie Feng, highlighted the visit on X, posting a video of Peng applauding the performance. Peng “encouraged American teenagers to continue studying the Chinese language and culture and to become envoys of friendship between China and the United States”, Xie wrote.

Joe Mazur, a geopolitics analyst at Beijing-based consultancy Trivium China, said Peng helps put “a more human face” on otherwise hard-nosed diplomacy and generate “feel-good moments” in US-China relations.

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Reuters described Peng’s role during Xi’s Washington trip as an exercise in Chinese “soft power”, projecting a gentler and more approachable image of China at a time when Beijing and Washington remain divided over issues including trade and Taiwan.

Who is Peng Liyuan?

Profile

Peng Liyuan From soprano to first lady

She was a star long before Xi Jinping was. Her life in five tracks.

PENGLIYUAN

01The soprano02In uniform03The marriage04Global causes05On the world stage

Now playing · Track 01

The soprano

1962–2000s

1962

Born in Yuncheng county, Shandong province.

Early 1980s

Becomes a household name singing “On the Plains of Hope” on CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala.

1990

Becomes the first person in China to earn a master’s degree in traditional ethnic music.

Two decades

A fixture of the gala, the most-watched TV show in China, and one of its best-known folk sopranos.

Now playing · Track 02

In uniform

Singing for the army

1980

Joins a People’s Liberation Army song-and-dance troupe at 18.

On tour

Performs for soldiers at remote border posts and in disaster zones.

Rank

Holds a civilian rank equivalent to major general; later heads the PLA Academy of Arts.

1989

A photo of her singing to troops in Beijing after the Tiananmen crackdown resurfaced online after Xi’s rise.

Now playing · Track 03

The marriage

Star meets official

1987

Marries Xi Jinping, then a vice mayor of Xiamen. She is by far the more famous of the two.

1992

Their daughter, Xi Mingze, is born. She later studies at Harvard.

2007 on

Steps back from the stage and TV as Xi rises through the party.

2012

Xi becomes party chief. Peng becomes China’s most visible first lady in decades.

Now playing · Track 04

Global causes

UN and WHO roles

2011

Named WHO Goodwill Ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

2014

Appointed UNESCO Special Envoy for the Advancement of Girls’ and Women’s Education.

Focus

Girls’ schooling, rural education and women’s access to learning.

Style

Uses the roles for solo public appearances, a rarity for a Chinese leader’s spouse.

Now playing · Track 05

On the world stage

First lady abroad

2013

Debuts as first lady on Xi’s first foreign trip, to Moscow. Her style draws global attention.

2015

Visits the Smithsonian’s National Zoo pandas with Michelle Obama during Xi’s US state visit.

2017

Hosts Melania Trump in Beijing: a school visit and the Palace Museum.

2026

Back in Washington, touring the Smithsonian’s Asian Art museum with Melania Trump.

Sources: WHO, UNESCO, official biographies, news reportsExpress InfoGenIE

Peng, a renowned soprano, was previously best known in China for her performances with the Chinese military. She has travelled internationally to promote Chinese music and culture and, since Xi became president in 2013, has accompanied him on numerous overseas visits and participated in public-welfare campaigns.

Unlike many wives of previous Chinese leaders, Peng has maintained a relatively visible public profile. Her international work has included education and public-health initiatives. UNESCO appointed her a ‘Special Envoy for the Advancement of Girls’ and Women’s Education’ in 2014, citing her work promoting girls’ and women’s education and addressing inequalities in education.

Peng has also been involved in HIV/AIDS awareness and other public-health campaigns, according to her UNESCO profile.

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Peng has spoken in English before

A中B文C字

China · Education

China’s English debate

A maths teacher wants English demoted. A famous nationalist editor says no. And AI hangs over it all.

Drop it

Keep it

1English today2Tang’s proposal3Hu’s response4The AI question

Where English stands today

3core subjects: Chinese, maths and English

Grade 3when compulsory English begins

Late 1970swhen English became central to China’s opening up

• English is weighted on par with Chinese and maths in the zhongkao (high school entrance exam) and the high school graduation exam.
• It counts heavily in the gaokao, the national college entrance exam.
• Critics say the grammar- and test-heavy curriculum still leaves many students unable to speak it well.

Tang Jiafeng

Maths teacher known for coaching postgraduate entrance exam candidates

“English is just a tool”

• In a Weibo post in early September, he called for English to lose its core-subject status.
• He argued families pour time and money into a subject most people never use at work.
• Children, he said, are cramming English before they have mastered Chinese.
• He framed it as ending a history of “worshipping foreign things”, a phrase that touched a nerve.

Hu Xijin

Former editor-in-chief, Global Times

“I hope the education department will ignore them”

• Called those branding English study as foreign-worship extreme and narrow-minded.
• Said the issue was being politicised by people trumpeting their nationalism.
• English gives students access to international knowledge and opportunities.
• Equity: richer families would buy private tuition; poorer students would lose out.

Does AI make English optional?

“Yes, cut back”

• AI translation tools now give near-instant results good enough for many everyday and work tasks.
• Years of grammar drills may not be the best use of scarce class time.
• Youth unemployment has families asking which skills will actually pay off.

“No, keep it”

• English is still needed for top universities, study and travel abroad.
• A Guangdong English teacher notes it helps in operating certain AI models.
• Downgrading it would widen the urban–rural gap, experts warned in a 2021 round of the same debate.

Not new: in 2021, a national political adviser, Xu Jin, proposed dropping English as a core subject at the annual “two sessions”. The idea resurfaces every few years.

Sources: The Star, The Diplomat, China Daily, news reportsExpress InfoGenIE

Peng’s exchange with Melania is not her first public appearance speaking English. In 2015, she delivered a speech in English at a Global Education First Initiative event at the United Nations in New York, where she spoke about girls’ education, equality and access to schooling. A recording of the speech was published by People’s Daily, while UNESCO has documented Peng’s work as its Special Envoy for the Advancement of Girls’ and Women’s Education.

“Education is about women and girls,” she said. “It is important for girls to go to school because they will become their children’s first teacher some day.”

People say Xi’s wife speaks better English than the First Lady of the United States pic.twitter.com/qYIwRphJnt — The Gulag (@WelcomeTheGulag) September 24, 2026

Videos of the speech resurfaced on social media after her exchange with Melania, according to reports. One post said, “This is a video from 2015, and someone of Peng Liyuan’s level naturally has an English teacher, so her English must be even better now.”

Another post focused on her interaction with Melania, “Notice how attentive and polite Madam Peng Liyuan was, waiting for Melania, turning and smiling, saying something to break the ice.”

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Why English is being debated in China

The renewed attention on Peng’s English comes as China is again debating the role of English in its education system. Earlier this month, maths teacher Tang Jiafeng called for English to be stripped of its status as a core school subject. The South China Morning Post reported that Tang argued children, parents and schools had devoted disproportionate time and resources to English and said he was calling for the subject to lose its core status.

Former Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin has argued against reducing the importance of English, saying foreign-language skills remain important for international engagement.