MUMBAI, Sept. 23 -- Over 400 Indian and Chinese people from various walks of life attended a grand reception marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China held in India's financial capital Mumbai on Sunday evening.

The event was attended by Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong, along with ministers from India's western state of Maharashtra, which has Mumbai as its political capital.

The past 70 years is only a short period in the 5,000-year-long Chinese civilization, but the country has undergone unprecedented transformations and tremendous changes for the Chinese people, Sun said.

Enumerating China's progress over past four decades in particular and India-China business relationship, Sun pointed out that over 1,000 Chinese companies doing business in India have created over 200,000 local jobs with cumulative investment reaching 8 billion U.S. dollars. Similarly, more than two-thirds of Indian companies investing in China are making steady profits and about 40 percent of them will expand investment in China this year.

He said the box office of Indian films is twice in China as much as in India.

With next year marking the 70th anniversary of China-India diplomatic ties, the ambassador called for implementing the consensus of the top leaders of the respective countries, synergizing development strategies, promoting people-to-people and cultural exchanges and consolidating the foundation of public opinion.

Expressing gratitude to Chinese investors to prefer Maharashtra for future expansions, Maharashtra's Industry Minister Subhash Desai said an offer has been made to develop a special industrial zone for enterprises from China in the state.

Sudheendra Kulkarni, former chairman of the Observer Research Foundation Mumbai, called China's efforts in lifting a large number of people from poverty in human history a great achievement and nothing short of a miracle. He said on the sidelines of the reception that the two countries, as ancient civilizations, must come together to bring peace and sustainable development to the world.

When the global order is changing, it is extremely important that India and China come closer and show the right path and direction to the rest of the world, he said.

Artists from China's Hubei and Fujian provinces performed dance, fusion music and martial arts at the reception hosted by Chinese Consul General in Mumbai Tang Guocai along with a traditional Chinese tea ceremony.

Extending a warm welcome to all the guests at the reception, Tang said that Mumbai office was the first among Chinese diplomatic missions in India to host this year's National Day reception that falls on Oct. 1.