PRESS DIGEST-Taiwan - May 20

TAIPEI May 20 (Reuters) - Taiwan newspapers carried the following stories on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

CHINA TIMES

-- A Taiwan woman has become the first female climber in the world to reach the summit of Mount Everest from both the south and the north.

-- President Ma Ying-jeou said the governments of Taiwan and China could start discussions on setting up offices in each other's territory.

UNITED DAILY NEWS

-- Fubon Financial (2881.TW) said it had applied to set up an office in China's Guangdong province and planned to open up branches in China in the first quarter next year.

-- Taiwan will likely hold the APEC telecom forum in 2011, a government official said.

LIBERTY TIMES

-- Standard & Poor's said it might lower Taiwan's sovereignty rating from current AA-/A-1+ to as low as BBB if the economic downturn persists.

COMMERCIAL TIMES

-- Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming will lead a 1,000-person delegation to visit Taiwan for product procurement in June, making him the highest-ranking official to visit the island.

ECONOMIC DAILY NEWS

-- China is set to launch a subsidy program for Chinese to buy cars and home appliances in nine cities including Beijing and Shanghai in a move that could generate T$350 billion ($10.6 billion) in business, benefitting Taiwan's electronics and auto parts makers.

-- Taiwan will allow Chinese institutional investors to buy commercial real estate on the island, the newspaper cited the island's Mainland Affairs Council as saying.