UPDATE 1-PRESS DIGEST - China - April 1

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BEIJING/SHANGHAI, April 1 (Reuters) - Chinese newspapers available in Beijing and Shanghai carried the following stories on Tuesday. Reuters has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

FINANCIAL NEWS

-- China will try to increase the supply of grain and restrict the export of major grain products in order to stabilise domestic grain prices, the National Development and Reform Commission said.

-- China's securities watchdog said the country faced serious challenges in its crackdown on illegal fund-raising activities, part of its effort to establish proper order in the stock market.

-- A NASDAQ-style stock exchange, to be launched soon in China for growth firms, must have a strict mechanism to expel unqualified firms, according to proposals by securities houses, fund firms and private equity companies to the securities regulator, which has been soliciting public comment on new rules governing listings on the exchange.

-- China's urbanisation rate reached 44.9 percent by the end of 2007 and the country now has 656 cities, according to a report by the China Association of Mayors.

CHINA DAILY (www.chinadaily.com.cn)

-- China cut to five years the life sentence imposed on a migrant worker who withdrew 175,000 yuan ($25,000) from a malfunctioning ATM in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

-- Banking regulators in Shanghai have told local banks to exercise caution in mortgage lending to help combat speculation and stabilise property prices.

PEOPLE'S DAILY

-- China's Vice Premier Hui Liangyu said the country needed to improve its water resource management so as to support sustainable long-term economic growth.

-- There are currently more than 50 million Chinese learning English, but low efficiency and inability to speak are the main challenges during their study.

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

-- China's central bank mopped up a net 1.051 trillion yuan from the market in the first quarter through its bill issues and bond repurchase business, but its open market operations were still weaker than in the same period last year.

-- Many brokerages are urging caution in trading in China's stock market in the near term, as they foresee no powerful rebound anytime soon after the market plunged 34 percent in the first quarter -- the second-biggest quarterly fall in its 18-year history.

-- Foreign banks incorporated in China, including HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L)(0005.HK), posted strong earnings in 2007.

-- Combined turnover of China's three commodity futures exchanges in Shanghai, Dalian and Zhengzhou jumped 240 percent year-on-year to 18.6 trillion yuan in the first quarter, buoyed by sharply increased trading in agricultural products.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

-- The state parent of Brilliance China Automotive (1114.HK) opened its fifth plant with a total investment of 620 million yuan. The facility has annual capacity of 250,000 units, said the company's chairman, Hao Yumin, adding that the automaker aimed to sell 600,000 cars annually by 2010, up from an estimated 330,000 units in 2008.

-- Volkswagen's (VOWG.DE) premium car unit, Audi AG (NSUG.DE), sold 30,000 cars in China in the first three months of this year and is likely to reach sales of 200,000 cars annually before the target year of 2015, said Zhang Xiaojun, head of Audi's sales arm in China.

-- Truck maker Beiqi Foton Motor Co (600166.SS) said it had won a contract worth $31 million to make 330 buses in Angola.

-- Average daily turnover on China's stock exchanges in the first quarter rose 17 percent from the previous quarter to 196.7 billion yuan, as the market tumbled 34 percent.

SECURITIES TIMES

-- China funds investing overseas, known as QDII funds, reported a steep rise in their value last week due to a rebound in global stock markets, especially in Hong Kong.

CHINA BUSINESS NEWS

-- Cui Jindu, vice mayor of the northern city of Tianjin, said there was no timetable for the launch of an over-the-counter stock market in the city, which would become China's third stock market after Shanghai and Shenzhen.

21ST CENTURY BUSINESS HERALD

-- China's textile exports to the United States dropped 17.6 percent year-on-year to $1.386 billion in February, hit by a weakening U.S. dollar. ($1=7.022 Yuan) (Compiled by Beijing and Shanghai Newsrooms; Editing by Edmund Klamann)