PRESS DIGEST- China - Dec 14

SHANGHAI Dec 14 (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

-- In 2013, approved projects will put China's urban railway investment at between 280-290 billion yuan ($45-47 billion), up from an estimated 260 billion yuan this year, the newspaper reported quoting statistics from the National Development and Reform Commission.

-- China's mobile phone shipments in the first 11 months of the year hit 417 million, up 10.4 percent in the same period a year earlier. The majority of phones shipped were 3G enabled handsets, experiencing a growth of 80 percent while 2G handset shipments declined 25 percent.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

-- Taikang Insurance will sell various types of insurance on Chinese e-commerce platform 360buy.

CHINA DAILY (www.chinadaily.com.cn)

-- The Red Cross Society of China pledged to improve transparency after donations dropped for a second straight year following an embezzlement scandal in 2011.

-- Beijing called for a "prudent" response to North Korea's missile launch by the United Nations, but reiterated that it regrets Pyongyang's decision.

SHANGHAI DAILY

-- Some supermarkets in Shanghai have stopped selling two snacks made by Hsu Fu Chi, a candy-maker 60 percent owned by Nestle, after a Shenzhen court ruled that the company should compensate consumers as the product contained banned substances.

PEOPLE'S DAILY

-- The official Communist Party paper urged government departments to trim administrative luxuries such as booking five-star hotels for meetings, in order the maintain credibility in the eyes of the public.

For Hong Kong and South China newspapers see.....