PRESS DIGEST - Hong Kong - June 25

HONG KONG, June 25 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

-- The Securities and Futures Commission has increased the frequency of its on-site examinations of brokerage firms and fund houses to check their financial position and internal controls in order to avert any collapses brought on by global financial market turmoil, said chairman Eddy Fong.

-- Shenzhen, Beijing and Anhui province are expected to try out reform of value-added tax (VAT) by October, following the trail blazed by Shanghai, which started the pilot programme in January, according to Lachlan Wolfers, a tax partner at KPMG China.

-- Longfor Properties Co Ltd chief executive Shao Mingxiao said the Chinese developer had spend 2.2 billion yuan ($345.68 million) so far this year to buy five pieces of land in the mainland, and is seeking to acquire more sites in southern China for new projects.

THE STANDARD

-- Chinese President Hu Jintao, who will be visiting Hong Kong for the last time as president, arrives on June 29 for a three-day visit until July 1 when he will officiate at the swearing-in of Leung Chun-ying as chief executive. His visit also coincides with the 15th anniversary of the handover.

-- Merry Garden Holdings, a Fujian-based producer of wooden products, aims to raise up to HK$207 million ($26.68 million)from its initial public offering in Hong Kong. Twenty retail shops will be opened mostly in southern cities during 2012-2014, funded by about 25 percent of the proceeds from the IPO, said chairman Wu Zheyan.

ORIENTAL DAILY

-- Lenovo Group Ltd said it has not made any downward revision to its personal computer shipment forecast for the remainder of 2012 and believes it will continue to outgrow the global personal computer market.

For Chinese newspapers, see............... ($1 = 6.3642 Chinese yuan) ($1 = 7.7598 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Twinnie Siu; Editing by Sunil Nair)