BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in Brunei hosted a reception on Tuesday evening to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which falls on Oct. 1.

The event, held at the Empire Hotel and Country Club, was attended by over 700 guests including Haji Aminuddin Ihsan, Brunei's minister of Culture, Youth and Sports as the guest of honor, other government officials, foreign diplomats, representatives from different organizations, and representatives of Chinese companies in Brunei.

In her welcoming speech, Chinese Ambassador to Brunei Yu Hong highlighted that China has achieved a tremendous transformation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, with 70 years of hard work.

Yu said China's economy has grown rapidly especially since the reform and opening up in 1978. China has been the second-largest economy since 2010 and become the second country with an economy of over 10 trillion U.S. dollars in 2014.

"For 13 consecutive years, the Chinese economy has been the largest contributor to the world economy. China now ranks first in terms of goods trade and industrial products. The industrial products from China account for 25 percent of the global total. China is also the second-largest destination for foreign direct investment," she said.

The ambassador added that the friendship between China and Brunei has been developing at an accelerated pace and full of vitality.

"China and Brunei, facing each other across the sea, are good neighbors sharing a long history of exchanges and traditional friendship," she said.