Craig Allen, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, said in his remarks that the Year of the Ox "has so much promise and is filled with opportunity for fresh beginnings."

"We have an obligation to make the most of this precious opportunity and boldly work together toward a more fair, friendly and free world. This is within our grasp and we should not fail to achieve it," said Allen.

The reception was followed by a concert presented by Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, which is based in southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, a landmark in the country's reform and opening-up drive.

The orchestra opened the celebration with the jubilant Spring Festival Overture, composed by Li Huanzhi in the 1950s, which depicts the scene when people in China's northwestern Shanxi province celebrate the Chinese New Year.

A recording of the overture was selected to be carried and broadcast into space on China's first lunar probe, Chang'e 1, in 2007.