DBS gears up China expansion

Bank highlights China market as it plans adding 12 branches here within next 5 years.

Chairman Koh Boon Hwee said on Feb. 3 DBS Group Holdings has substantial investments in China and it intends to expand its presence further.

Koh, at a press conference before the inauguration of DBS's new China headquarters building in Shanghai, said that DBS was only at the beginning of its journey.

DBS has been racing to expand its presence in China and, in a little less than three years, has grown its customer base by over four times, and nearly doubled its staff to almost 1,000. About 400 are in Shanghai, according to a report in Business Times.

DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta said a report showed that DBS ranked 49th out of banks in China. Among foreign banks, it ranked among the top three, in terms of assets. He was referring to the 2009 KPMG Research China Banking Industry in which 130 banks participated.