DBS to take over RBS' businesses in 3 China cities

* RBS to transfer retail, commercial portfolios to DBS


* Deal covers only Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen

* Deal also involves transfer of RBS employees to DBS (Adds details on agreement)

SINGAPORE, Dec 15 (Reuters) - DBS Group , Southeast Asia's biggest lender, is taking over Royal Bank of Scotland's retail and commercial businesses in three Chinese cities, expanding its client-base in the world's second-biggest economy.

The agreement will give 25,000 customers of the British bank in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen the option to transfer their existing accounts and deposits to DBS China, the Singapore bank said in a statement.

Some RBS employees will also move over to DBS as part of the deal.

The statement did not disclose any monetary value for the transaction. An RBS spokeswoman wasn't immediately able to comment on the deal.

RBS, 83 percent owned by the UK government, has sold most of its commercial banking units in Asia but still has an investment banking presence in the region. RBS also has banking operations in several other Chinese cities.

RBS Chief Executive Stephen Hester embarked on a wide-ranging asset sale programme after the bank was ordered last year by European regulators to sell a string of assets as a price for its state bailout.

DBS currently gets the bulk of its earnings from Singapore and Hong Kong, but aims to expand in China, Southeast Asia and India.

"This landmark agreement enables DBS China to rapidly expand its retail banking customer base, grow its deposit base and correspondingly, accelerate plans to grow its loan portfolio, in a market that is of critical importance to DBS," said Melvin Teo, CEO of DBS China. (Reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)