SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese American General Chamber of Commerce (CAGCC) in the U.S. state of Washington will act as a new bridge for businesses and enterprises of China and the United States to expand their commercial and trade operations in each other's country, James Lv, new CAGCC president, said Monday.

Lv, who assumed office as the next CAGCC president at an event Monday evening, said the chamber will work hard to help Chinese enterprises to sell their products in the United States and set up a platform for them to bring their projects to their American partners.

"We will also make maximum efforts to assist American businesses to help their investment in China," he said.

Although there are cultural differences between China and the United States, the two countries are highly complementary and they need each other in many ways, he said.

"I believe the trade frictions between the two countries could be resolved soon," Lv said.

The CAGCC helps boost business opportunities and connections among members and interested persons, and offers them an opportunity to learn from and work with other very important and "successful business people with great knowledge," said CAGCC Chairman Bradley Owen, who is former Lieutenant Governor of Washington state.

At the time when the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the 40th anniversary of U.S.-China diplomatic relations are being celebrated, "our organization will continue to work to foster business and prosperous relations with China," he said.

Washington Senator Bob Hasegawa told the attendees that despite the current difficult time between China and the United States, there are opportunities for American businessmen to deeply think about and understand their relationship with China.

Recalling his trip to China last year, he praised the Chinese people for "doing amazing things," saying "China is unrecognizable from what it was, and even in the last 10 years it has advanced so much to the point where I think that they are actually living up to" what the first generation of Chinese leaders had envisioned for.

New CAGCC Secretary General Lv Lili outlined the chamber's future tasks in the new year, including enhancing communication among member units, forming expert panels to help resolve difficult problems and building a new platform for fundraising to help finance promising projects.

The CAGCC is a federally certified non-profit organization based in Seattle, Washington, with an aim to elevate the U.S.-China trade relationships, enhance trade and economic growth and develop friendship between the two countries.