Cathay this period, many cartographers were placing Cathay on the Pacific coast, north of Beijing (Pekin) which was already well-known to Europeans. The borders drawn on some of these maps would first make Cathay the northeastern section of China (e.g. by Gerardus Mercator), or, later, a region separated by China by the Great Wall and possibly some mountains and/or wilderness (as in a by Jodocus Hondius, or a by John Speed). J. J. L. Duyvendak hypothesized that it was the ignorance of the fact that "China" is the mighty "Cathay" of Marco Polo that allowed the Dutch governor of East Indies
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.