Government officials and executives of Rural Commercial Bank of Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu province ring the opening bell at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange to mark the bank's listing on the bourse on Jan 24. [Photo from WeChat account zjgcitynews]

Rural Commercial Bank of Zhangjiagang, a medium-sized lender based in Zhangjiagang city, Jiangsu province, was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Jan 24 as the bank looks to strengthen its presence in the Chinese market.

A group of local government officials and bank leaders attended the launch of the new stock at the Shenzhen exchange and rang the opening bell.

The 15th enterprise in the port city Zhangjiagang to be listed on the bourse, the bank's initial public offering stock was valued at 790 million yuan ($115 million), with an issue price at 4.37 yuan per share. It soon saw its price soar and closed at 6.29 yuan per share at the end of the first day of trading, up around 44 percentage points.

Founded in 2001, the bank has always been a trailblazer for financial reform in China's rural areas, as it plowed deeply into the local market and shared the fruits of the region's economic growth.

It has also taken full advantage of resources all around, such as setting up a R&D center in neighbor city Shanghai, opening up 100 subsidiaries across the country, and investing in five rural financial institutions.