Nasdaq, a major stock exchange in the world, celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year on Wednesday morning by holding an in-person opening bell ceremony in partnership with the Chinese Consulate General in New York.

As part of a multi-year tradition, Huang Ping, the Chinese consul general in New York, rang the opening bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square, New York, the most populous city in the United States.

Meanwhile, a billboard outside the Nasdaq building played videos in celebration of the Year of the Rabbit.

"Today marks another example of a pledge that we have to companies around the world that list on our market. Moreover, Nasdaq's commitment to China remains very strong," said Robert H. McCooey, Jr., vice chairman of Nasdaq, at the ceremony.

"We're extremely proud to be the home for over 175 Chinese companies, innovative and iconic companies who embody the entrepreneurial spirit that help our two nations continue to grow," said McCooey.

McCooey added that after all the difficult and tumultuous times over the past few years, 2023 is for cultivating peace and patience.

"China is very clear that we're going to open our door and open wider to work with the international community, to realize our goal, to reach our destination and to share the fruits with everyone," said Huang at the ceremony.

"As we are now heading into the Year of the Rabbit," Huang said, "we should move as quickly as the rabbit and work together to implement the consensus reached by our two presidents to make this relationship more productive and more delivering to benefit our people and the people all around the world."

He also announced that the Chinese Consulate General in New York became fully open starting Wednesday, and extended his welcome to overseas visitors to China.

Huang said it's time to apply for visas and make plans to visit China. "I'm sure you will be amazed and thrilled by China's beauty of nature and also the diversity and ... abundant chances of opportunity to do business."

"We're very optimistic about 2023 for Chinese initial public offerings (IPOs) to come back to normalization of the market," McCooey told Xinhua on the sidelines of the event.

With the recent decision of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the understanding and cooperation with Chinese regulatory bodies and a clear understanding of how the account principles and practices will be implemented going forward, "we're very excited about the opportunity for companies in 2023," said McCooey.

According to McCooey, many Chinese companies continue to want to come to the U.S. markets in 2023. "I've seen everything up and down. Markets are cyclical. I certainly think we're gonna have more IPOs from China than we had last year, but there was a very, very small base to work off," he said.

McCooey added that Huang's announcement on the full openness of the Chinese Consulate General in New York is very important.

"We're very encouraged by that. And we're quite honored that he took the opportunity and the opening bell this morning to make this important announcement," said McCooey.

For the previous two years, Nasdaq celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year with virtual bell ringing ceremonies due to the COVID-19 pandemic.