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SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 25-- The Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco on Friday held a reception to celebrate upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year and honor the contribution of overseas Chinese to forging a close and strong relationship between China and the United States. In an address read by Deputy Consul General Zhang Jianxin to hundreds of participants at the event, Chinese Consul General Wang Donghua said the vast majority of overseas Chinese have participated in one way or another in the process of building a wealthier and stronger China over the past 40 years since China introduced the policy of reform and opening-up in 1978. Wang said he hopes overseas Chinese will seize historical opportunities to render firm support for China's further reform and opening-up and work harder to boost the China-U.S. friendship. Speaking at the event marking Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 5, Peter Chi, a veteran leader of the Chinese community in San Francisco and the San Francisco Committee to Promote Reunification of China, said overseas Chinese are keen on cementing a more stable China-U.S. relationship. "The year 2019 will witness several wonderful events for China, including the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China ... and 40th anniversary of the Message to Compatriots in Taiwan issued by the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress of China on Jan. 1, 1979," he said. | 
