PRESS DIGEST - China - April 3

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, April 3 (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

-- A rise in China's official purchasing managers index in March indicates that China's economy may have bottomed out, said Ma Jiantang, the head of the country's statistics bureau.

-- Shanghai courts handled 562 cases involving financial crime in 2008, up 42.64 percent from a year earlier, court statistics showed.

-- Salaries of top executives of listed Chinese companies rose 12.21 percent on average last year despite a fall in overall profits, although average salaries of those in the financial sector fell, according to annual reports issued so far by 816 mainland-listed companies.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

-- Statistics provided by property consultant Colliers International showed 12.3 percent of premier office space in Shanghai was vacant in the first quarter. The rate, the highest since 2005, may top 20 percent by the end of this year.

-- Lenovo Group (0992.HK) Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing said he was confident of turning around the company's loss-making enterprise business in the next few quarters.

-- Shenzhen Stock Exchange President Song Liping said the planned Nasdaq-style second board for start-up companies would be designed to ensure that offering prices for new listings are set in line with market levels.

-- Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Co (600320.SS), the world's biggest port equipment maker, said it planned to issue up to 4.1 billion yuan ($600 million) in commercial paper this year. The company said net income for 2008 rose 22 percent to 2.55 billion yuan.

SECURITIES TIMES

-- China's Sichuan province, hit by a devastating earthquake in May 2008, aims to complete 85 percent of post-quake reconstruction by September.

-- Top Chinese cement maker Anhui Conch Cement Co (600585.SS) (0914.HK) said it plans to issue up to 9.5 billion yuan in corporate bonds in mainland China. The bonds could be placed with A-share investors.

FINANCIAL NEWS

-- Although the G20 Summit has made some acheivements, the problem of financial isolationism should be monitored and reform of the international monetary system is the key to prevent future crises, a commentary said.

CHINA DAILY (www.chinadaily.com.cn)