PRESS DIGEST - China - Aug 7

BEIJING/SHANGHAI Aug 7 (Reuters) - Chinese newspapers available in Beijing and Shanghai carried the following stories on Friday. Reuters has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

-- China will strengthen its cooperation in the financial sector with countries in Southeast Asia, including the promotion of a multi-lateral currency swap mechanism, said Su Ning, vice governor of China's central bank.

-- Air China (601111.SS) said it has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Sinotrans Air Transportation Development Co (600270.SS) and the two did not rule out forging equity ties.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

-- Agricultural Bank of China AGBKC.UL, one of China's four big state lenders, received expressions of interest from 18 potential strategic investors last week alone, including government investment funds, private equity funds and investment banks, unnamed executives at the Chinese bank said.

-- China Eastern Airlines (600115.SS) is expected to complete its merger deal with Shanghai Airlines Co 600591.SS at the end of this year, said China Eastern President Ma Xulun.

-- Beijing has been investing heavily to expand the city's power grid in the past two years, with planned investment this year totaling 10.4 billion yuan ($1.52 billion), up 10 percent from 2008, Xinhua said.

CHINA DAILY (www.chinadaily.com.cn)

-- Bank of China's (601988.SS) investment arm plans to pay nearly 10 billion yuan for a roughly 8 percent stake in Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway Corp, the owner and operator of a 1,318-km express rail link which is under construction between the two cities, sources said. ($1=6.831 Yuan) (Compiled by Beijing and Shanghai Newsrooms; Editing by Edmund Klamann)