San Francisco, Sept. 24, (People's Daily Online)----Thousand toasted to the 65th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China at the reception held by the Consulate General in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Yuan Nansheng, Consul General in San Francisco said that the past 65 years have witnessed the remarkable achievements China made. And the country will continue its reform and opening up to the outside world. He said that China now is the second largest economy and the largest manufacturing country in the world. "Besides, China is the largest trade partner of 128 countries around the globe," he said.

He said, "China and the United States has weathered storms and enjoyed historic development during the past 35 years." Both countries have built more than 90 intergovernmental mechanisms. And the bilateral trade volume reached 520 billion U.S. dollars last year, 200 times of that at the beginning of the normalization of diplomatic relations. And there are 202 sister cities in both countries.

Yuan also complimented all the efforts and contributions made by local Chinese communities, companies and overseas students to promote the development of bilateral relations between two countries.

Edwin Lee, mayor of San Francisco, spoke highly of the U.S.-China relationship as the most important bilateral relations in the world. He hopes that the relationship between the United States and China will be strengthened "through the gateway of San Francisco."

Former Consul General in San Francisco Gao Zhansheng, California Assembly Republican leader-elect Kristen Olsen, California Assembly member Adam C. Gray and together with other 1,000 guests from Chinese communities, businesses, students and all walks of life in the Bay Area attended the event.