Cathay known China under names similar to "Cathay", that country was known to the peoples of South-East Asia and India under names similar to "China" (cf. e.g. "Cina" in modern Malay). Meanwhile, in China itself, people usually referred to their nation state based on the name of the ruling dynasty, e.g. "Da Ming Guo" ("the kingdom of the Great Ming"), or as the "Middle Kingdom" ("Zhongguo" 中國); see also Names of China for details. When the Portuguese reached South-East Asia (Afonso de Albuquerque conquering Malacca in 1511) and the southern coast of China (Jorge Álvares reaching the Pearl River estuary in
Cathay Bank plans to acquire a 20% stake in First Sino Bank, but the deal fell through due to the companies failing to get approval from the Chinese government. On March 30, 2007, Cathay expanded into New Jersey when it completed its acquisition of United Heritage Bank. In 2007, Cathay Bank converts its Hong Kong Representative office into a full service branch. On January 21, 2015, Cathay General Bancorp, the holding company for Cathay Bank, and Asia Bancshares, the holding company for Asia Bank, N.A., announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for the merger of Asia Bancshares into Cathay.