BEIJING, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The story between the U.S. teacher Ronald Sakolsky and Yin Yuzhen, a Chinese woman fighting desertification, is a vivid epitome of China-U.S. grassroots goodwill, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday.

Recently, attention has been drawn to the story of Yin, a national model worker rooted in the Maowusu, the fourth-largest sandy area in China. Yin recently turned to the internet to search for a U.S. benefactor from more than 20 years ago. Her video clip quickly went viral on social media.

Mao addressed the story at a regular press briefing, noting that Sakolsky, a U.S. teacher in China at the time, raised 5,000 U.S. dollars to help Yin and her husband plant trees and fight desertification.

That gift has since grown into more than 50,000 trees standing today, Mao said, describing the cross-border bond as a vivid example of people-to-people friendship between China and the United States.

Mao noted that the story of China-U.S. relations is written by the people. She also expressed confidence that the two peoples will keep adding new chapters of goodwill, and breathing new life into the China-U.S. relationship. ■