DBS eyes 20% staff surge in China

Majority of hire to be designated at retail banking arm as lender seeks growth.

Southeast Asia's biggest bank DBS is planning to boost its head count by more than 20 percent this year in China to ride on the country's growth story, new Chairman Peter Seah said.

"We are committed to investing in growing the business, and will be increasing our head count by over 20 percent this year," Seah told Shanghai Daily about the bank's China strategy after being appointed chairman of Singapore-based DBS Group and DBS Bank on May 1.

More than half of the new hires will be for retail banking, with the rest slated for positions in institutional banking, treasury and markets.

Seah shrugged off concerns that China's economy is overheated. He said that several economic indicators pointed to a peak in growth back in mid 2009 and since then there has been a trend toward normality.

View the full story in Shanghai Daily.