[Photo provided to China Daily]

After his first-ever pitch, Huang said that he was very excited about this form of cultural exchange, since "everyone loves traveling, and everyone loves sports."

"We've got more than 5 million people traveling across the Pacific per year now, more than 3 million from China to the United States, and around 2 million from the United States to China last year," he noted. "If we can keep this people-to-people exchange going on, we can together push this (bilateral) relationship forward."

The diplomat also said that the development of baseball has gained momentum in China over recent years, as dozens of Chinese colleges have assembled their own baseball teams with semi-professional players.

"As we have more and more exchanges, I believe baseball, as an important part of American culture, will become more popular in China, bringing pleasure and joy to the Chinese people."

The event was co-hosted by the New York-based Sino-American Friendship Association, China National Tourist Office in New York, and the New York Mets.