NEW YORK, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Given the current economic and financial circumstances, it is a good timing to further intensify the reform and opening up of China's financial industry, a U.S. banker told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"China's financial industry has already had a fairly good foundation for further reform and opening up as the industry has made considerable progress since 1979," Pin Tai, chief executive officer and president of Cathay Bank told Xinhua on the sidelines of Cathay Bank economic outlook conference.

By allowing more international financial institutions to further develop in China, it will improve many aspects of China's financial industry, including product innovation, risk control, and enterprise management, through healthy competition, he added.

China's central bank governor fleshed out measures and disclosed a timetable to further open up the financial sector last month, signaling fast progress in implementing the country's opening-up promises.

The deepening of reform and opening up of China's banking industry will not be too risky, Tai believed, noting that many banks in China are quite large-scale with advanced technology and strong learning capabilities.

Tai is optimistic about the outlook of China's banking industry development. Cathay Bank already has a presence in two cities in China - Beijing and Shanghai. The bank plans to further expand the Chinese market after China announced a series of financial opening measures.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. Tai said that the tremendous progress China has made since the beginning of the reform and opening up was "inconceivable," which testified the important role of reform and opening up in China's economic and social development.

Tai pointed out that the deepening of China's reform and opening up of financial sector won't be easy, however, China should adhere to the policy nevertheless as past experience has proved that the advantages of reform and opening up far outweigh the disadvantages.