Cathay Bank's management rang the Nasdaq Stock Market opening bell on Wednesday to celebrate its 55th anniversary.

In 1962, Cathay Bank opened for business with the mission of providing financial services to the growing Chinese-American community in the greater Los Angeles area, thus becoming the first Chinese-American bank in Southern California.

Today, Cathay Bank is a subsidiary of Cathay General Bancorp, a publicly held bank holding company with 14.3 billion U.S. dollars in assets as of June 30, 2017.

"Its rapid expansion was fueled by successive waves of immigration, burgeoning trade between America and Asia, and the economic development of the surrounding community," Pin Tai, the CEO and President of Cathay General Bancorp, told Xinhua on Wednesday.

Cathy Bancorp made its trading debut on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the symbol "CATY" in 1990.

"We have a great relationship with Nasdaq since, and we are excited when we received invitation of ringing opening bell from Nasdaq," said Tai.

In 2003, GBC Bancop merged into Cathay Bancorp and General Bank, the principal subsidiary of GBC, merged into Cathay Bank. In connection with the merger, Cathay Bancorp changed its name to Cathay General Bancorp.

Cathay Bank's service network extends from California and Washington on the West Coast and Nevada, Texas, and Illinois, and New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Massachusetts on the Eastern Seaboard.

Overseas, it has a presence in the three important commercial centers in China - Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei.