Rose He, president of the Beijing Association of Northern California, speaks at a press briefing on Monday in Cupertino, California. The non-profit organization aims to promote the relationship between Silicon Valley and Beijing. Lia Zhu / China Daily

A group of Chinese living in the San Francisco Bay Area set up an association to promote exchanges and economic ties between the United States and Beijing.

The Beijing Association of Northern California, a non-profit organization based in the Bay Area, looks to promote friendship and cooperation between the US and China in such areas as technology, education, culture and economic growth by gathering not only Beijing natives but also those who studied or worked in Beijing before moving to the US, according to Rose He, the founding president of the association.

"As a new society of the Chinese community, we will carry forward the Beijingers' style and strive to bring fresh looks for overseas Chinese," she said at a press briefing on Monday in Cupertino.

"Beijingers are honest, big-hearted and humorous. To some extent, they are similar to Americans," Andy Wang, a vice-president of the association, told China Daily.

"Beijing as China's capital has been attracting people from other provinces and regions to work and live in it," said Wang, a financial professional in the Bay Area and a Beijing native. "People from different backgrounds and cultures come and live together, which helps build the broad-minded and inclusive character of Beijingers."

More than 100,000 Chinese who used to study or work in Beijing now live in the Bay Area, according to the association.

"Most of them have received higher education and are becoming an important part of the working force in Silicon Valley," said Wang. "Because we have connections both in Beijing and Silicon Valley, we are able to build a bridge between the two sides," he said.

Compared with similar societies in the Bay Area established by natives of other provinces, the Beijingers' association is young. But it is one of the largest in Northern California in terms of membership.

"More than 300 people have been registered [in the association] in just six days and more are expected to be recruited," said Yibing He, another vice president of the association.

According to a core members' list, many of them also are members of the other societies, like the Hunan Fellowship Association, Henan Association and Hebei Association. They also come from various professions and count engineers, accountants, journalists and artists among their ranks.

On the founding ceremony on June 14, the members are expected to wear Red Scarf, a neckerchief worn by Chinese schoolchildren as a badge of honor, to celebrate the founding of the association and also reminisce about their childhood and youth spent in China.

"We have prepared over 400 Red Scarves," said He. "Most of the members are those who came to the US in the 1980s and 1990s."

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com