Educational cooperation is critical to U.S.-China relations, the most important bilateral ties in today's world, an expert has said.

"The United States is the most powerful country in the world and China is a growing power, both countries need to find a good way to accommodate (bilateral relationship) so that no further tension would go forward," Pericles Lewis, the vice president for Global Strategy of the Yale University, told Xinhua on the sidelines of 2018 Yale U.S.-China Forum.

"Educational exchange is positive since learning more about each other's culture will enhance friendship," he said.

Yale has more than 800 Chinese students studying various subjects, accounting for the largest number of international students in the university, he said, adding that the university welcomed more Chinese students.

"Today there may be some disputes on trade matters, but in the long run this will lead to closer and more friendly relations," Lewis said.

Yale boosts a long history of connection with China. In 1835, Peter Parker, a Yale graduate opened a hospital in China and became the first western doctor to introduce modern anesthesia to China.

In 1854, Yung Wing, who graduated from Yale, was also the first Chinese student to earn a degree from an American college or university.

"The relationship between the two countries has gone through ups and downs over the past 150 years or so, but the continuous exchanges between the two peoples are central," said Lewis

In the 2016-2017 academic year, more than 350,000 Chinese students studied in the United States, according to the latest figure released by Project Atlas, a global research initiative on students mobility. The number saw a 15 percent increase year on year.

Meanwhile, China ranked top two among the destinations most preferred by the U.S. outbound students, the data showed.