China, Singapore to boost banking co-op

BEIJING - China and Singapore agreed on Friday to enhance banking sector cooperation under the existing China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.

Under the improved agreement, two qualified Chinese banks will be granted Qualifying Full Bank licenses by Singapore banking authorities while the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) will accelerate the process of applications made by Singapore banks for the establishment of branches in China.

According to a brief statement on the website of the CBRC, the Singapore banks included the United Overseas Bank Limited (China), DBS (China) and OCBC (China).

However, it did not specify the two Chinese banks.