SINGAPORE - The net profit of DBS China, a subsidiary of Singapore's DBS Bank, doubled to over 500 million yuan ($79 million) last year, the company said.

The Chinese mainland is now the bank's third largest market after Singapore and China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, local broadcaster Channel NewsAsia reported on Tuesday.

The bank opened eight new outlets on the Chinese mainland last year and acquired 16,000 new clients. It now has 25 branches across 10 major cities and aims to have as many as 50 by 2013.

Its deposits grew by about 40 percent, while loans grew by 24 percent.

It plans to increase its headcount on the Chinese mainland by 25 percent this year.

It is targeting customers in both the corporate and the consumer banking and sees opportunities in the small and medium enterprise banking sector.