PRESS DIGEST - Hong Kong - July 3

HONG KONG, July 3 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

-- Shares in Chinese herbal shampoo maker BaWang International (1338.HK) rose about 29 percent against their issue price in unofficial trading on Thursday, while coal trader China Qinfa (0866.HK) climbed 12.3 percent. Stocks of the two companies will officially begin trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday.

-- The new chief executive of Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Norman Chan, will have a term of five years and his present post in the Chief Executive's Office is expected to be filled by Undersecretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam, a source familar with the issue said.

HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES

-- China-focused property developers R&F Properties (2777.HK) and Poly Hong Kong (0119.HK) said their apartment sales in China had been steady and no signs of shrinking demand had been noted despite a significant increase in activity in the past six months.

MING PAO

-- Melco International Development's (0200.HK) 34.06 percent owned associate Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd said rolling chip volume at its City of Dreams in Macau totalled US$1.94 billion in its first month of operations in June, but the winning percentage was 0.8 percent, below a 2.85 percent expectation.

-- Hunan Nonferrous Metals (2626.HK), which posted anet profit of 190.5 million yuan for the first half of 2008, warned of loss for the first six months of 2009 because the average selling price of lead and zinc products remained low and demand for tungsten and antimony products was unsatisfactory.

APPLE DAILY

-- Zijin Mining's (2899.HK) (601899.SS) third-largest shareholder Chen Fashu had told the company that he had sold 147.34 million A shares, or a 1.01 percent stake in the mining company between May and July. The shares are seen to worth more than 1.4 billion yuan.

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