UPDATE 1-PRESS DIGEST - China - March 6

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BEIJING/SHANGHAI, March 6 (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

-- Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren said debt issued by local governments would be traded publicly, although he did not give a timeframe.

-- There will be an oversupply of steel used for ship building in China this year as several new steel production lines will start operation while demand from new ship orders weakens, said Tan Naifeng, deputy chief of the information unit of the China shipping association.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

-- China will issue policies this year to encourage mergers and acquisitions among listed companies, the country's top securities regulator Shang Fuling said.

-- China has no plans to provide further cash aid to its airlines, the country's top aviation regulator Li Jiaxiang said. He added that 200 billion yuan ($29.24 billion) out of the country's earlier announced 4 trillion yuan stimulus package would be invested in the civil aviation industry.

-- China's top banking regulator Liu Mingkang said the average provisioning coverage ratio of Chinese banks should reach 150 percent.

-- China has further room to adjust its export tax rebates, said Chen Deming, the country's commerce minister.

SECURITIES TIMES

-- Rizhao Port Co (600017.SS) said it would issue between 200 million and 300 million shares to its parent company, raising up to 1.25 billion yuan. Proceeds will be used to purchase port assets worth 2.04 billion yuan from the parent.

CHINA BUSINESS NEWS

-- China's top five state power producers all made losses in January due largely to high coal prices, said Zhai Ruoyu, chairman of Datang Corp, one of the big power producing groups.

-- The state-backed merger between Benxi Iron & Steel (Group) and Angang Steel Co group (000898.SZ) has made little progress in the past four years, Yu Tianshen, chairman of Benxi Iron & Steel said. The two firms are still running their planning, purchasing and sales systems separately, he added.

CHINA DAILY