LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles hosted a reception on Tuesday night, celebrating the upcoming Chinese New Year with more than 600 people in attendance.

Chinese Consul General in Los Angeles Zhang Ping made a speech at the reception held at the grand imperial ballroom of Sheraton Los Angeles San Gabriel to representatives from various local groups and overseas Chinese, noting that sub-national cooperation witnessed further expansion and new progress last year.

"Los Angeles welcomed 1.2 million Chinese visitors in 2018, hitting a new record high. Events like Happy Spring Festival Cultural program, California-China Business Summit, CHINAWEEK, the Lotus Festival (with China being the host country last year), Chinese-American Film and TV Festival and many others were brought to stage consecutively throughout the year, highlighting the close trade and cultural ties between our two sides," he said.

"2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations. The history of four-decade-long relationship tells us that our two countries stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation," said Zhang, adding that there exists a wide range of common interests between China and the United States, and cooperation is the only right choice.

"Spring Festival is a traditional Chinese festival, which has thousands of years history and the richest culture," said Sher Li, president of the Chinese American Federation, a non-profit organization registered in California. Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, falls on Feb. 5 this year.

"It's a true pleasure for overseas Chinese to gather here joyfully to celebrate the coming of the Year of the Pig in the Chinese lunar calendar. It's only the beginning of a series of celebrations in local communities," she added.